Lawyer: "Parliament violated our rights"

The MilliMejlis of Azerbaijan adopted amendments to the law "On advocates and advocacy", and actually liquidated the institution of representation. According to the changes, the legal representative of an individual in the court can only be his close relative. Previously, a representative of an individual could have been any capable citizen of the country.

This change was already discussed in the parliament on October 20, but it was not accepted. In addition, it was then announced that changes to the law would be re-introduced for discussion next spring. However, the decision was suddenly changed and after a short discussion the change was made at the last session of the parliament. The reason for the actual liquidation of the institution of representation in the courts of the authors of the draft changes is the lack of professionalism among representatives, and aims to replace them with professional lawyers, to strengthen the institution of the bar. The amendments come into force on December 1 of the current year.

Even before the first discussion in the parliament, most lawyers opposed the liquidation of the institution of representation, arguing that chaos would reign in the country's legal system, and citizens would actually be left without legal aid, given the limited number of lawyers. By the way, refusing to accept changes to the law during the first discussion, the parliament referred to this.

What threatens the public with the liquidation of the institution of representation? How will this affect lawyers and lawyers?

"Azerbaijan ranks thelast among the 47 Council of Europe member states in terms of the number of lawyers per capita," lawyer AgilLaige told Turan. "Despite the fact that there are 905 lawyers in the country, more than half of them are not engaged in effective activities, they are far from professionalism, and therefore cannot help in achieving justice. The authors of the bill emphasize that it will strengthen the effectiveness of justice. However, justice does not depend on representatives. This problem must be solved by improving the courts. "

The lawyer noted that the most negative consequences from the liquidation of the institution of representation will affect citizens: "The liquidation of the institution of representation will entail a colossal burden on lawyers, the scope of their work will grow hundreds of times. Naturally, a large amount of work reduces its quality. "

Laige stressed that changes to the law would lead to increased pressure on lawyers who conduct so-called political affairs: "Lawyers who conduct politically-registered cases can be excluded from the Bar Association at any time. Prior to the adoption of the bill, lawyers excluded from the Board could engage in legal activities as representatives. The liquidation of the institution of representatives will deprive the lawyers excluded from the Bar in general from engaging in legal activities, and this, in turn, will force lawyers to take a cautious stance,"the lawyer said.

According to lawyer Samira Agayeva, the adoption of amendments to the law means almost forcible entry of lawyers into the Bar, which is almost impossible for them, given the rules for admission to the structure: "One of the requirements is a three-year official work experience as a lawyer. Most of the lawyers involved in judicial practice worked under a service agreement, which is not counted as an official length of service in admission to the Bar. After the liquidation of the institution of representation, the situation will deteriorate completely, since lawyers are generally deprived of the opportunity to practice. Even worse is the situation for lawyers expelled from the College. They have almost no chance to recover. This is especially true of ex-lawyers who dealt with political affairs. "

The lawyer, touching upon the exam questions on joining the Bar Association, noted that the exam system made the introduction almost impossible: "The parliament discussed the decline of the passing ball from 60 to 40. However, it is not the ball, but the second round. Prior to the adoption of the changes, we, as part of a group of practicing lawyers, provided our proposals to the parliament, saying that the part concerning the second round of examinations - an interview with the Presidium of the Bar Association - should be changed. It must be canceled, because, as a rule, it is not objective. It is not uncommon for an examiner to be asked a question not from the field of law, but when the answer was not satisfied by the presidium, he was not admitted to the College. "

Agayeva stressed that the adoption of amendments to the law wasviolated the right of lawyers to engage in professional activities: "If I do not want to join the Bar Association, I still have the right to engage in my activities. The liquidation of the institution of representation of parliament violated the rights of lawyers. "

The lawyer noted that the most negative consequences of the adoption of the bill will be felt by citizens: "Lawyers represented citizens in courts for a small, purely formal fee, or did it completely free of charge. Advocates, as a rule, do not do it. Since they conclude a contract, they take an order and only after that they appear in the courts. Therefore, poor citizens will then try to represent themselves in the courts. As a result, the statements they make will be far from perfect, there will be no references to laws, a legal basis for the claim, which will lead to their re-submission and thereby increase the work of the courts. "

According to the lawyer, changes in the law will hit single incapacitated citizens: "Under the new bill, representatives can only be close relatives or lawyers. The circle of close relatives includes spouses, parents, children, brothers and sisters. There are single incompetent people who have no one, and there is no possibility to invite a lawyer. In this case, a person remains without legal protection. "

The lawyer believes, the reason for the liquidation of the institution of representation was the intention of the authorities to limit their appeals to the European Court of Human Rights: "The last statement of SiyavushNovruzov that representatives do not want to lose clients referring to international structures indicates that this was done with a view to punishment those lawyers who applied on behalf of their clients to the European Court. This is a punitive measure,"S.Agayeva said.--0--