First Vice Speaker Ali Huseynli presided over the scheduled plenary sitting of the Milli Majlis that began with a discussion of the issues du jour on 4 April.

Parliamentary committee heads Ganira Pashayeva, Zahid Oruj, Siyavush Novruzov and Ziyafet Asgarov, and MPs Musa Gasimli, Bahrouz Maharramov, Ali Masimli, Elshad Mirbashir oglu, Aydin Mirzazade, Sahib Aliyev, Razi Nurullayev and Hikmat Mammadov commented on the terrorist attack on MP Fazil Mustafa carried out on 28 March. They condemned that assault as an encroachment on the Azerbaijani State as represented by the Milli Majlis and as an aspect of the general hostile policy against our country. Our enemies cannot reconcile themselves with Azerbaijan’s pursuing an independent internal and external political course; neither can they digest our victory in the Garabagh War, the commenters insisted.

The MPs found a speedy cracking of this terror case thanks to the law-enforcement action commendable; they voiced their support for the work done by the national security and law enforcement authorities of the country.

A special stress was put on that the investigation of the attack on Fazil Mustafa and his condition were under close supervision of President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva. Speaker Gafarova said she had called on the wounded MP at hospital and enquired after the progress of his treatment; she added confidently that the masterminds and perpetrators of the act of terror were to receive the punishment they deserve.

Drafting a statement by the Milli Majlis was considered then. First Deputy Chair of the parliament/head of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Ali Huseynli talked about foreign marring campaign levelled at Azerbaijan. He mentioned yet another provocation of the Senate of France against our country made on 16 March this year and underlined the importance of our country responding to it.

Chairman of the Labour and Social Policy Musa Guliyev suggested a statement drafting commission should be put together, and Ali Huseynli supported the suggestion. And so it was settled. The new commission was made of the leader of the Azerbaijan-France inter-parliamentary connexions WG Soltan Mammadov (as committee chairman), Ziyafet Asgarov, Elshan Musayev, Aziz Alakbarov and Sevil Mikayilova.

Samad Seyidov, Elshan Musayev, Soltan Mammadov, Rafael Huseynov, Gudrat Hasanguliyev, Kamran Bayramov, Shahin Ismayilov, Amina Aghazade, Fazil Aghamali, Jeyhun Mammadov and Razi Nurullayev took the floor when this matter was discussed.

What they said was that the conference at the French Senate was another attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan as well as a show of contempt for international law, and that its aim was to harm peace and stability in the region. France is biased towards our country – was so during the Patriotic War of 44 days and has been after it. Given the new realia in the South Caucasus and the moves to normalise relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, such rallies as they had knocked together only represent an attempt to dramatise the situation in the South Caucasus where there are now opportunities to achieve peace and arrange co-operation, the MPs were saying.

Always sincere and consistent in her relations with France – as much so as she is with all her other partners – Azerbaijan is rewarded with France’s unfair and partial attitude. The feisty conference in the Senate was nothing short of interference in Azerbaijan’s internal affairs, in the opinion of the Azerbaijani lawmakers.

They turned to the legal aspects and security issues in relation to the Armenian minority living in the internationally-recognised territories of Azerbaijan; they stressed France’s unbearable treatment of human rights in cases of the diverse ethnic and religious groups in France’s own territory. So, the French MPs’ démarche against Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial wholeness and the French MPs’ sheer encouragement of separatism within the Azerbaijani territory must be condemned most sternly as an instance of unashamed hypocrisy.

MP Sevil Mikayilova came up with the draft of the Milli Majlis’ statement about the humbug conference that the Senate of the French Republic hosted on 16 March 2023.

The document was voted in (the text of the statement will be taken out in the press).

First Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis/Chairman of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Ali Huseynli then tabled a first-reading set of amendments to the Law ‘On the Institution of the Orders and Medals of the Republic of Azerbaijan’, written up in connexion with the establishment of the medal ‘Centenary (1923-2023) of Heydar Aliyev’. The current year is declared the Heydar Aliyev Year; now, the emergence of the new medal will be one of the highlights in memoriam the Great Leader, according to Mr Huseynli. According to its statute, the new medal will be worn first amongst other medals after existing orders; according to Paragraph 1 of the same statute, the range of persons awardable with the anniversary medal will be wider than for all other medals. Besides, citizens of Azerbaijan, overseas nationals and officials of local and overseas state agencies and of international organisations can be decorated with this medal for certain services such as popularising and studying the Heydar Aliyev legacy, carrying the Azerbaijanism idea into life, and promotion of peace and international co-operation.

According to Mr Huseynli, it was precisely under Heydar Aliyev’s leadership that Azerbaijan became one of the most developed Union republics during the Soviet era. It was during those years that the economic foundations of the future’s independent state were laid; it was then that the ideology of national statehood and Azerbaijanism were formulated. In November 1990 – that is, when our independence had not yet been declared officially – Heydar Aliyev continued his struggle for independence whilst in Nakhchivan. He raised the tricolour and put the first legal stone, as it were, in the foundation of our reappearing sovereignty. So, it is right and commendable that the medal’s statute reads, ‘awarding the “Heydar Aliyev Centenary" Anniversary Medal for special services in state-building in Azerbaijan, including in the national liberation movement’.  

The medal will also be awarded for services in the preservation of state independence, socio-cultural and scientific development, fruitful social and political activities and other merits.

The Vice Speaker described how the medal would look: it would have the bas relief of Heydar Aliyev and the attributes of our independence. In general, Mr Huseynli added, the institution of the ‘Centenary (1923-2023) of Heydar Aliyev’ medal was a token of reverence for the precious memory of the Great Leader.

The emergence of the new anniversary medal was praised by the parliamentary committee chairman Siyavush Novruzov and MPs Hikmat Mammadov, Sabir Rustamkhanli, Musa Gasimli and Fazail Agamali. The lawmakers spoke of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev's exceptional services to the Azerbaijani people and state. They emphasised the important role the national leader played in preserving and strengthening Azerbaijan's state independence.

This Bill was voted through the first reading in the end.

Next, they considered appointing Inam Imdad oghlu Karimov as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Ali Huseynli explained that Mr Karimov's candidacy had been submitted to the Milli Mejlis by the President of the country in accordance with Paragraph 109 of the Constitution and Part I of Article 93-4 of the Courts and Judges Law. The Legal Policy and State-Building Committee had already considered and supported the nominee, Mr Huseynli added.

Inam Kerimov received his law degree from Baku State University and a number of influential foreign universities, and is a Doctor of Law. He began his career in the Presidential Administration’s Department for Law Enforcement Authorities whilst also serving as a secretary of the Anti-Corruption Commission and representing our country in that field before international organisations. Inam karimov was the first helmsman of the ASAN Service, which is known as an Azerbaijani brand, and made a serious turn in ensuring transparency and citizens’ satisfaction with state services. Whilst in his ministerial chair starting in 2018, Mr Karimov was also busy discharging public and administrative duties on the legal plane.

Having said all that, the parliamentary committee chairman said he was certain that Inam Karimov’s tenure in the Supreme Court would promote effective and transparent administration of justice in Azerbaijan.

This agenda item was voted in subsequently.

As Ali Huseynli said then, the next four agenda items had been submitted to the Milli Majlis in one package. Those were ratification Bills regarding the protocol of amendment of the Nakhchivan Treaty on Establishing the Co-operation Council of Turkic-Speaking States, the protocol of amendment of the CCTSS Secretariat’s Financial Regulations, the treaty of the governments of the Organisation of Turkic States about setting up a facilitated customs corridor and the OTS inter-governmental agreement about international combined cargo haulage.

Chairman of the International and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Committee Samad Seyidov told the House as he was tabling the above that the OTS had risen to a new and higher development stage by now. The Bills in question envisage the organisation’s renaming from the CCTSS to the OTS and making the appropriate corrections in the said documents. Various entities within the OTS are highly active, incidentally; the treaties and agreements put before the parliament, amongst other things, encompass issues related to broadening the economic, financial, cultural, educational and other mutual relations within the Organisation, according to Mr Seyidov.

The Bills were voted in one by one.

Chairman of the Agrarian Policy Committee Tahir Rzayev tabled a bill of ratification regarding the protocol of amendments to the 9 October 1992 Agreement between the Union states about interaction in geodesy, mapping, cadastre and remote Earth sounding interaction.

The Republic of Azerbaijan joined the Agreement on 10 April 1998. The Regulations of the Inter-State Geodesy, Mapping, Cadastre and Remote Earth Sounding that the aforementioned agreement and protocol (signed on 28 May 2021) ratify are now being presented in a new edition. The Regulations stipulate that an Interstate Council as a body of sectoral co-operation in the Commonwealth of Independent States is to be set up in pursuance of the agreement of 9 October 1992. In addition, the Regulations contain paragraphs on the functions, composition and organisation of the Council, as well as the rights and obligations of its members. It also defines the functions and procedures of the Council Secretariat.

Chairman of the International and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Committee Samad Seyidov let the House hear the committee’s favourable conclusion about the Bill, which was then voted in duly.

Mazahir Efendiyev of the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee brought before the plenum a Bill of ratification of the convention on abolition of double taxation of income and the prevention of tax evasion between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Japan. Endorsed in Baku on 27 December 2022, the convention is intended to have a beneficial effect on economic development between the two countries.

Chairman of the International and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Committee Samad Seyidov, again, presented the committee’s favourable response to the Bill and the latter was voted in subsequently.

Mazahir Efendiyev of the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee gave an overview of a draft law regarding ratification of the Azerbaijani-Montenegrin inter-governmental air-traffic agreement, signed in Baku on 4 February 2023. He said that the agreement had been designed to establish air links between the two countries and to ensure the highest level of safety for international flights. The document sets out the tariffs, taxes, customs duties and other amounts payable.

The assembly listened to a favourable review, presented by Samad Seyidov, of the Bill by the committee he chairs. The document was put to a vote and approved.

Amina Aghayeva of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee then talked about the following sets of third-reading amendments, all submitted by the President in one package: to the Legal Prosecution Authorities Law, to the Description of Insignia and Uniforms of Prosecutors, approved by Act No. 165-IIQ of 29 June 2001, to the Law ‘On the Identity Card of Members of the Legal Prosecution Authorities’ and to the Law ‘On Serving in the Legal Prosecution Authorities’. The MPs had been comprehensively briefed on all these Bills during their first and second hearings, and no comments or suggestions on the documents were received, according to Ms Aghayeva.

All the four Bills were voted through the third reading one after another then.

The next three agenda items, too had been submitted by the President in one parcel, said the First Vice Speaker.

Member of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Kamal Jafarov told the House of the third-reading amendments to the Migration Code, which, he pointed out, had been detailed during the first and second readings and in which no textual changes had been made.

Mahir Abbaszade of the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee told the plenum of the third-reading amendments to the Law ‘On Banks’ and, separately and in the third reading also, to the Securities Market Law. There had been no modifications or additions to those, according to MP Abbaszade.

Those three Bills were put to a vote and approved in the third reading separately then.

At that point, First Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis Ali Huseynli let it be known that the last three items on the agenda dealt with draft laws in the first reading.

MP Amina Aghazade of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee tabled the amendments to the Legal Prosecution Authorities Law and the Law ‘On Serving in the Legal Prosecution Authorities’. She announced that both drafts had been prepared in connexion with the reassignment of the Military Prosecutor's Office of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The institutional reforms that will follow will serve to improve the structure of the Prosecutor's Office as well as to further improve its work, including increasing its efficiency.

The Bills were voted through the first reading one by one.

Chairman of the Human Rights Committee Zahid Oruj proceeded to talk about amendments to the Information, Informatisation and Protection of Information Law, remarking that the presidential decree ‘On a Range of Measures to Secure Critical Information Infrastructure’ of 17 April 2021 envisages development of targeted regulations for the purposes of legal regulation in this area. The Act No 539-VIQD dated 27 May 2022, which introduces certain modifications to the Information, Informatisation and Protection of Information Law, had been passed into law in this vein. The relevant concepts of critical information infrastructure, ensuring its security and so forth had thus been introduced to the IIPI Law.

There is now a need for further legislative changes to effectively ensure the security of the critical information infrastructure, and the draft submitted to the plenary proposes that the Cabinet of Ministers should define a list of CII objects. At the same time, the draft stipulates that the Cabinet of Ministers is to define the requirements for the providers as well as set out a mandatory stipulation that the providers’ founders and authorised representatives as well as the providers’ specialists responsible for the security of CII and other employees involved by the latter in this area shall be citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Comments fooled from MPs Etibar Aliyev, Vugar Bayramov, Sabina Khasayeva and Nigyar Arpadarai. Then, the Bill was voted through the first reading and that was the end of today’s plenary sitting of the Milli Majlis.

The Press and Public Relations Department

The Milli Majlis