There are shortcomings in Azerbaijan with the application of protective orders against domestic violence

Baku/22.02.23/Turan: Azerbaijan has not joined the Convention Council of Europe on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention), but the main provisions of this international document are reflected in Azerbaijani legislation and are implemented by the state, expert of the Council of Europe Rosa Logar said at the Baku final conference on the presentation of the report "Protective orders in cases of violence against women and domestic violence".

Joining the Baku conference online from Vienna, Logar presented her report on the state of protecting citizens from domestic violence - both women and men, children, the elderly and the disabled. The report contains an analysis of the Azerbaijani implementation of the norms for protecting people from domestic violence.

The conference was held by the State Committee for the Protection of Families, Women and Children and the Council of Europe. The project "Raising awareness in Azerbaijan about the Istanbul Convention and Gender Equality Standards", within the framework of the "Partnership for Good Governance II, 2019-2022" program, has been funded by the European Union since 2020.

Logar believes that Azerbaijan is working to protect women and other categories from domestic violence, the central action in protection is the issuance of short-term protection orders, giving the police the right to protect victims of violence by placing them in special shelters. But the application of this measure is difficult due to the imperfection of many procedural aspects. In addition, protective orders are the main, but only one part of the necessary system for protecting people. This is the prevention of violence, promotion of compliance with laws, the right choice of defense tactics, determining the timing of the appointment of a warrant and places of execution, protective measures. It is also necessary to discuss and revise the body determining the appointment of a protection order, since in some cases the appointment of the executive branch as the determining executive body is controversial.

Protective orders are short-term and long-term. The practice of applying this measure in Austria shows that it is wrong to protect the victim outside his home, making him (or him) a refugee. On the contrary, it should be removed to a safe distance for the victim from the home of the perpetrator of violence. But then the question of ownership of real estate arises, because often the violence is carried out by a man - the owner of the house. Therefore, according to Logar, removing the perpetrator of violence from his real estate to protect the victim should not mean deprivation of the right to property.

According to Logar, short-term warrants do not guarantee against a recurrence of violence in the future. It is necessary to abandon the rule according to which a warning is first issued to the rapist, then a short-term, then a long-term warrant is determined. To prevent relapse, the executive body should be able to immediately appoint a long-term protection of a citizen.

"In addition to the arrest of rapists, other measures of influence are necessary when there is no threat of violence. Then you should choose an impact that is not necessarily associated with an arrest. 1-2 days is not enough for a short-term warrant. During this time, the family does not have time to deal with the situation and come to a common One to two weeks is a good time for a short-term protective order," the Austrian expert noted. In her country, a short-term warrant can last up to four weeks, at the discretion of the police.

She also believes that the police should protect a citizen under a warrant not only in his home, but also in a kindergarten, school, place of work, as there are cases when rapists waited and found victims outside the premises guarded by the police.

The next important provision, according to Logar, should be a rule for judges to take as a basis the interests of children, not adults, when determining the measure of influence. Even if the child sees violence against a third person, his interests are infringed and then the rapist must be removed from the child's location. This is stated by the Istanbul Convention, which states the priority of the interests of the child over the wishes of adults.

Long-term and short-term protective orders can be applied in case of any violence - not only men against women, but also against children, the elderly, the disabled, men. Also, various forms of punishable violence, including early marriages, sexual relations, both in a legal family and in unregistered de facto families.

In Azerbaijan, added Logar, just as in other European countries, ways should be found for free legal protection of victims of gender-based violence, since these citizens are often deprived of the means to pay a lawyer, and they themselves cannot draw up documents and applications due to illiteracy. Applicants should be exempted from paying duties, taxes and other fiscal methods, and it is necessary to provide online remote forms of appeal.

According to Logar, there are villages in Austria where there is no Internet, people do not have cell phones. Similarly, in Azerbaijan, the state is obliged to provide residents of such settlements with modern means of free operational communication to call for help.

"Even in countries with a long history of implementing protective orders, the effectiveness of this measure is insufficient. It is necessary to define sanctions for compensating victims of domestic violence, it is important to train professional personnel in the field of social protection, it is necessary to create a network of various specialized government departments that jointly solve the problem of gender protection We need social shelters in all regions of Azerbaijan," the expert said. She noted the successful work in Azerbaijan of the network of local authorities in some rural areas.

Speaking next, the head of the legal department of the State Committee for the Protection of the Family, Women and Children, Taliya Ibragimova, said that, despite the gaps in the legislation, the Civil Code is trying to solve the problems of protecting victims of violence on the ground.

“Compared to last year, the number of issued short-term protection orders has doubled. If last year the executive branch issued warrants after negotiations with the Civil Code, this year the executive authorities in the districts issue warrants themselves, without delaying the procedure.

In 2022, 146 short-term warrants were issued, of which 46 were provided at the initiative of the State Committee. 100 warrants were issued by the executive branch on their initiative. We report signals from the field, post information on a special WhatsApp network, and order decisions are made on the spot.

In 2022, 12 long-term protection orders were issued. In Azerbaijan, short-term warrants are issued for up to 30 days; after a court decision, a long-term warrant may be issued.

In 2022, the Civil Code received 584 requests for protection from domestic violence. Of these, 20 came from men, 475 from women, 81 from children, 6 from the elderly and two from gay people. Most of the appeals came from Baku. 407 cases - psychological, 17 - economic, 5 - sexual violence. 301 complaints were filed against husbands and 146 complaints against ex-husbands. 67 complaints about violence were received from relatives, Taliya Ibrahimova reported the statistics.—0—