Will PACE Committee Discuss Innovations in Azerbaijan Regarding Institution of Representation in Courts?

Baku / 11.11.17 / Turan: Members of the Milli Majlis (parliament) Muslim Mammadov and Vusal Huseynov will attend a meeting of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of PACE to be held in Paris on November 12.

As stated in the message of the MM, the meeting will discuss the European Convention on the legal profession, compliance with human rights obligations and the appointment of new rapporteurs.

Discussions will be held against the backdrop of major changes in the legislation on the legal profession in Azerbaijan. So, according to the amendments to the legislation adopted by the Parliament on October 31, the institution of representation of citizens in courts by people who are not lawyers is virtually eliminated. Representation will be carried out by professional lawyers who are members of the Bar, which are sorely lacking in Azerbaijan; there are only 934 for the 10 million inhabitants of the country.

The innovations caused criticism from the local legal community and international human rights organizations.-06D-