Will judges be protected from corruption?

On February 12 Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev approved the law  on joining  the Additional Protocol of the Convention "On Criminal Liability  for Corruption," which is open to countries who signed the Treaty SED N173 in Strasbourg on 15 May, 2003.

The Minutes of the Convention will apply to the arbitrators for commercial, civil and other matters, as well as the jury, supplementing the provisions of the Convention to protect the judiciary organs from corruption.

The protocol provides for the adoption of necessary measures to address a criminal offense, active and passive bribery of domestic and foreign arbitrators and jurors.

The Convention "On Criminal Liability for Corruption" itself is a complex and ambitious document, providing criminal liability for a wide range of corruption offenses. In particular, the Convention undertake to criminalize active and passive bribery of national, international and foreign government officials, members of national, international,  and supranational parliaments and assemblies and national, foreign and international judges. It also provides for the criminalization of active and passive corruption in the private sector, trading in influence and laundering the proceeds of corruption.

However, Azerbaijan does not fulfill its international obligations in the fight against corruption. In 2003,  in the reports of the Transparency International Azerbaijan ranked 125th (of 133 countries) in the Corruption Perceptions Index; today the country ranks 143 out of 182 countries. —0—