Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova presided over the scheduled spring-session plenary sitting on 12 February.

The 15-item agenda was approved first, after which the MPs Zahid Oruj, Ali Masimli, Naghif Hamzayev, Azay Guliyev, Elman Nasirov, Aydin Mirzazade, Musa Guliyev, Javanshir Pashazade, Fazil Mustafa and Tamam Jafarova stated their views of the issues of the day and motioned several ideas.

Deliberations on the items on the agenda of the sitting began then.

Commenting on the draft amendments to the Civil Service Law, First Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis and Chairman of the parliamentary Committee for Law Policy and State-Building Ali Huseynov said that the draft was connected to the decree of President Ilham Aliyev dated 19 January 2021 ‘On the Special Representatives of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic in the De-Occupied Provinces’. The inception of the body of special representatives is the most important one of all the administrative reforms initiated in the light of those lands’ recovery, and the Charter of the special representatives has been drawn up and adopted in that short while that has passed since the victorious end of the war. As stipulated in that Charter, the body of special representatives is a sub-division of the Presidential Administration acting in the liberated territories and their structural make-up and staffing table shall be set by the President of Azerbaijan. The special representatives shall be employees of the Presidential Administration and civil servants; hence the new terminology being added to the Civil Service Law.

Therefore, First Vice Speaker continued, the job descriptions of the Special Representatives of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic, the Deputy Special Representatives and the Specialists to serve with the Special Representations of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic are to be put in Article 11 of the said law.

Views were shared then. The MPs Sabir Rustamkhanli, Malahat Ibrahimghizi, Razi Nurullayev, Gudrat Hasanguliyev, Zahid Oruj, Musa Gasimli, Fazil Mustafa, Kamran Bayramov and Aydin Mirzazade voiced their considerations and proposals. The Special Representation Institution was cleared into being as an extension of the administrative reforms afoot in the country. It was noted that the new unit would not be duplicating the existing administrative authorities and their functionality.

Mr Huseynli answered MPs’ questions and the new Bill was voted in.

Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova remarked thereafter that the next eleven agenda items were the Bills coming up for consideration in the second reading.

First Vice Speaker and Chairman of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Ali Huseynli told the House of the draft amendments to the Law ‘On Regulatory Legal Acts’ and MP Sahib Aliyev expressed his views on the Bill once it had been endorsed in essence. The Bill was put on vote and approved in keeping with the second-reading procedural rules.

Chairman of the Defence, Security and Counter-Corruption Committee Ziyafat Asgarov said with reference to the draft amendments to the Military Duty and Service Law being tabled next that they were very humanistic and had met with appraisal on the first reading. As per the new Article 21.1.4-1, those who sit doctorate studies examinations successfully will be entitled to a one-time three-month deferment of military service. Such deferment is available for students doing their bachelor’s and master’s studies; now, then, doctorate researchers will be able to benefit by it as well.

The MPs Aziz Alakbarov, Elman Nasirov and Musa Guliyev praised the Bill, which was then voted on and approved in the second reading.

Next, Chairman of the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee Tahir Mirkishili tabled the second reading of the amendments to the Tax Code, saying that the main goals there were to ensure food security in the country, make the fiscal policy more transparent and carry out further steps in public healthcare. The second reading of the document incorporates many of the remarks made during the first reading at the parliamentary committee meetings and the plenum of the Milli Majlis alike. For instance, the VAT exemption of wheat importation and sales, wheat flour and wheat bread production and sales and bran production and sales has been extended from 1 to 3 years in the current reading.

The MPs Bahrouz Maharramov and Etibar Aliyev commented on the Bill while Mr Mirkishili shed light on some issues raised. Then, the Bill was voted for in the second reading.

Madame Speaker said next that the following two agenda items were interrelated in their import: those were the second-reading draft amendments to the to the Lists of the Controlled, Limited-Circulation and Monitored Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, and Precursors Licensable for Importation, Exportation, Transit Transportation and Production within the Territory of the Azerbaijan Republic and the transit transportation of which across, and production in the territory of the Azerbaijan Republic and the Lists of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and the Quantities Thereof, Including Substantial Ones, Sufficient for Incrimination and Criminal Prosecution [both enacted pursuant to two Laws of the Azerbaijan Republic dated 28 June 2005].

The member of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Amina Agazade informed the House on both Bills. According to Mrs Agazade, their purpose is to add to the pertaining laws and lists the names of new narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances so that their traffic would be outlawed and would result in criminal prosecution of perpetrators. Mrs Agazade mentioned the Bills having been supported both at the committee meetings and at the previous plenary sitting of the Milli Majlis.

The MPs Nigyar Arpadarai, Aghil Abbas, Ziyafat Asgarov and Gudrat  Hasanguliyev had commented on the subject before both documents were voted in one after another.

The Milli Majlis sitting was resumed after a break. 

The member of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Kamal Jafarov told the MPs of the draft amendments (both in the second reading) to the Motor Traffic Law and to the Code of Administrative Offences. According to MP Jafarov, the principal goal of both packages is to adjust and improve the traffic safety rules. The suggestions by MPs had predominantly been considered and incorporated when the two Bills had been reworked.

As the debate went on, MP Gudrat Hasanguliyev together with the colleague Fazil Mustafa mentioned that the proposals voiced at the preceding plenum had been communicated to the appropriate authorities which had then taken the proper action. Both MPs said their thanks for that. Also, the MPs Bakhtiyar Aliyev, Iltizam Yusifov and Ali Huseynli put forth their thoughts about the tabled Bills.

Then, the Bills were voted through the second reading one by one.

The second-reading amendments to the Law on the Notaries were presented by the member of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Nurlan Hasanov. MP Fazil Mustafa described the Bill as one affording a way to alleviate the situation of the citizens and as a token of the caring attitude to it. The MPs voted in favour of the Bill in the second reading as presented.

The second reading of the draft amendments to the State Duty Law followed as  tabled by Deputy Chairman of the parliamentary Committee for Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Ali Masimli who said that the matter in hand was that of reducing and cancelling certain notary fees, which is in itself a truly positive thing to do. The voting began; the Bill was approved in the second reading.

Then ensued the second reading of the draft amendments to the Unemployment Insurance Law. Presenting the document to the House, the member of the Committee for Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Mahir Abbaszade stressed that with its enactment the unemployment insurance compensations would be assigned by means of the centralised electronic information system of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population.

The voting started and the Bill was approved in the second reading.

After that, Chair of the Culture Committee Ganira Pashayeva tabled the amendments to the Law ‘On the Copyright and the Neighbouring Rights’. Mrs Pashayeva told the House that, when in legal force eventually, the amendments would create a state registration mechanism applicable to Azerbaijani folklore compositions and traditional popular knowledge pieces now in the public domain. Besides, the amended law will make it possible to apply royalty fees for use of the government-registered compositions and pieces to the pursuit of the state policy concerned with the copyright and the neighbouring rights.

MP Etibar Aliyev remarked while talking about this Bill how really important the proposed amendments to the current law’s Article 27 were.

The Bill was put on vote and approved in the second reading.

The next three items on the agenda of the plenary sitting were to be brought up for consideration in the first reading.

The Member of the Committee for Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Mashhur Mammadov came up with a comprehensive overview of the draft amendments to the Law ‘On the Suspension of Business Enterprise Checks’. According to Mr Mammadov, certain steps have been taken in our country to mitigate the damage that the pandemic had dealt to the business community last year. As for the tabled amendments, they would extend the business check suspension across the country by another year, that is, to 1 January 2022 (other than the specific checks stipulated in Article 2.1 of the given law). Besides, this novelty will ban post factum checking of the business operations conducted during the moratorium.

Comments and suggestions came during the lively deliberations from the MPs Razi Nurullayev, Azer Badamov, Fazil Mustafa, Etibar Aliyev, Naghif Hamzayev and Tahir Mirkishili. After which, the Bill was approved in the first reading.

Next, Chair of the Committee for Family, Women’s and Children’s Affairs Hijran Huseynova gave a detailed description of the draft amendments to the Family Code. Mrs Huseynova noted that the provisions of the Family Code concerning adoption of children had been subject to the 2018 presidential decree ‘On the Measures to Improve the Adoption Governance’. An administration system was set up to provide the relevant services. As for the present amendments, they are to fill the gaps in adoption legislation and improve it. Apart from that, they would facilitate the adoption procedures for the current blood relatives of the children they want to adopt.

Deputy Chair of the Committee Jala Aliyeva commented on this item. The Bill was voted upon and approved in the first reading afterwards.

The draft amendments (in the first reading, too, as mentioned above) to the Civil Procedure Code. The Member of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Nurlan Hassanov said as he was introducing the document that it, too, was concerned with the adoption procedures, also, was related to the counterpart amendments to the Family Code and had been drawn up in order to streamline the relevant legislation.

This Bill was approved in the first reading as well.

And with that, the plenary session of the Milli Majlis was over.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis