A 34-item agenda was announced at the plenary sitting of the Milli Majlis that Speaker Sahiba Gafarova presided over on 20 December.

First, the Parliament considered, in keeping with the Constitutional Law ‘On Regulatory Legal Acts’, the following two Bills, presented in the first reading:

• The Bill of ratification of the letter of amendments to the Loan Agreement between the Government of the Azerbaijan Republic and the Japan International Co-operation Agency No AZB-P4 signed on 29 May 2009 in regard to the Provincial Cities Water Supplies and Sewerage Project; and
• The Bill of ratification of the amendments in the financial agreement concluded between the Ministry of Finance of the Azerbaijan Republic and KfW with regards to the project to set up the Samur-Yalama National Park within the frameworks of the Ecoregional Conservation Plan for the South Caucasus.

Both documents were tabled and described by Chairman of the Milli Majlis Natural Resources, Energy and Ecology Committee Sadig Gurbanov who said that the works under those could not have been done within the original contractual periods due to the coronavirus pandemic. So, both amendments are concerned with term extension in the main. The House heard the relation by Mr Sadigov before being acquainted with the opinion statements of the other parliamentary committees that had processed those two documents as well.

A committee chairman Tahir Mirkishili and the MPs Gudrat Hasanguliyev, Razi Nurullayev, Fatma Yildirim, Fazail Agamali and Siyavush Novruzov shared their thoughts as deliberations followed. And then, both Bills were put on vote and approved one by one.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova told the House that the next five items on the agenda were the Bills coming up for the third reading. She gave the floor to First Deputy Speaker/Chairman of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Ali Huseynli then.

Ali Huseynli informed the assembly of Bill ‘On the Repeal of the Laws of the Azerbaijan Republic “On the Personal Identification Document of the Citizen of the Azerbaijan Republic”, “On Amending the Law “On Amending the Law “On the Residency and Factual Abode Registration””, “On Amending the Law of the Azerbaijan Republic “On the “On the State Population Register of the Azerbaijan Republic”” (adopted on the force of the Law of the Azerbaijan Republic No 782 dated 8 February 1994”, “On Amending the Law of the Azerbaijan Republic “On the Citizenship of the Azerbaijan Republic”, “on Amending the Family Code of the Azerbaijan Republic” and “On Amending the Certain Laws of the Azerbaijan Republic in Connexion with the Validity Term of the Personal Identity Card of the Citizen of the Azerbaijan Republic aged below 15”’.

The Bill is concerned with the issue of the new-generation IDs; there had been no proposals of any sort during the preceding readings, Mr Huseynli said.

Hijran Huseynova and Samad Seyidov voiced the favourable opinions of their respective committees about the Bill. Siyavush Novruzov said that it was going to play a central role in discouraging criminal activities while Sabir Rustamkhanli broached the subject of issuing IDs to the Azerbaijani citizens living abroad. Then, the assembly voted the Bill through the third reading.

Item IV – the draft amendments (in the third reading) to the Code of Administrative Offences – was tabled by Mr Huseynli, too. He said that the document was intended to restore the damaged rights of employees and that there had been no suggestions regarding it during the previous reading.

The Chair of the Milli Majlis heard the relevant opinion of the Labour and Social Protection Committee, which had considered the draft law as well. Then, the House voted the Bill through the third reading.

Arzu Naghiyev of the Defence, Security and Counter-Corruption Committee came up with the overview of the next item on the agenda, namely, the draft amendments (in the third reading) to the Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence Law. The amendments were considered thoroughly at the first and second readings; the opinions and conclusions voiced then have been taken into consideration, according to MP Naghiyev.

Ali Masimli, Deputy Chairman of the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee that had reviewed the Bill, too, said there would be no additions. Then, the Bill was adopted in the third reading.

After that came the turnoff the amendments to the Copyright and the Neighbouring Rights Law, tabled by Chair of the Culture Committee Ganira Pashayeva who said that no additions or suggestions had been made regarding the draft in the third reading. The Law Policy and State-Building Committee had reviewed the Bill. Having heard this committee’s favourable opinion statement, the Parliament voted for the adoption of the Bill in the third reading.

Also in the third reading were tabled the amendments to the Courts and Judges Law. First Vice Speaker Ali Huseynli told the House that the Committee that he chairs had taken into account the corrections the MP had suggested with regards to the draft composed by this committee. As it was, the document was wholly in conformity with the goals assigned to it, Mr Huseynli emphasised.

Opinions came from the committee chairman Siyavush and MP Amina Agazade, after which the Bill was put on vote and adopted in the third reading.

That concluded the consideration of third-reading Bills at the plenum.

Chair Sahiba Gafarova proceeded to present to the House Item VIII, due in only one reading as legally prescribed and being a Bill containing amendments to the laws ‘On Passports’, ‘On the Civil Service’ and ‘On the Diplomatic Service’ as well as to the Tax Code.

Giving the relevant overview, Ali Huseynli said that the Bill, unifying in nature, envisaged independent operation of the trade missions of the Azerbaijan Republic in those states where there are no Azerbaijani embassies or consulates. It also concerns the issuance of diplomatic passports to Azerbaijan’s First Vice President and Vice Presidents. The Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee and the International and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Committee had scrutinised the Bill, so, their opinions were heard before the MPs Sabir Rustamkhanli, Fazail Agamali and Malahat Ibrahimghizi put forward their opinions and the Bill was voted in.

Item IX was a set of amendments to the Law on Licences and Permits, too, lined up for one reading only, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova announced before giving the floor to Elnur Allahverdiyev of the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee.

According to Mr Allahverdiyev, the amendments are drawn up pursuant to the presidential decree ‘On the Measures to Improve the Administration of Industrial Parks and Quarters, and Agrarian Parks’. There are the unifying corrections to be made in the List of Business Enterprising Permits so that it would include the certificates granted to residents of industrial parks, industrial quarters and agrarian parks.

The MPs voted the document in.

Sahiba Gafarova said next that the nine agenda items coming up now were second-reading Bills with two of them having arrived at the Milli Majlis in one envelope sent by the President of the Republic.

Chairman of the Labour and Social Protection Committee Musa Guliyev then tabled the second reading of the Tourism Bill, which, he pointed out, would ensure sustainable development of tourism. It contains tourism-industry state governance and administration mechanisms; besides, it will serve as a legal foundation for using the tourism resources rationally and efficiently. Having said that, Mr Guliyev briefed the House on the Committee’s responses to the suggestions made at the first reading.

The matter was talked about by the committee chairs Ali Huseynli, Ganira Pashayeva, Tahir Rzayev, Ziyafet Asgarov and Musa Guliyev. Responses also came from the MPs Razi Nurullayev, Fazil Mustafa, Vugar Bayramov, Etibar Aliyev, Erkin Gadirli, Gudrat Hasanguliyev, Hikmat Mammadov, Sabir Rustamkhanli and Rufat Guliyev. They were all about the terms and notions contained in the draft law, the visa regime, creation of tourist and recreation areas, the current status of tourism in Azerbaijan and its evolution prospects.

After that, the Bill was adopted in the second reading.

And the last item to be discussed before the break in the plenum was about a set of amendments (in the second reading) to the Code of Administrative Offences, introduced by Kamal Jafarov of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee who motioned a vote for want of any relevant suggestions.

The opinions of the other committees that had reviewed the Bill were had. Chairman of the Labour and Social Policy Committee Musa Guliyev, Chair of the Culture Committee Ganira Pashayeva and Mazahir Efendiyev of the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee expressed their support for the Bill, which was then was put on vote and was adopted in the second reading.

A break was announced in the plenum.

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When the plenum resumed, Chairman of the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee Tahir Mirkishili introduced two agenda items to the House. He said that the amendments to the Budgetary System Law (in the second reading) were devised to streamline the budgeting procedure so the process would be based on the parameters of the non-oil underlying fiscal deficit to the non-oil GDP and the total state debt to the GDP ratios. Those parameters are being offered in order that a ceiling can be drawn for the forthcoming transfer from the State Oil Fund to the State Budget and that the state debt would be prevented from growing further. In addition, the Bill contains a number of new terms and notions whilst some of the existing ones have been edited. Also, the scope of the documents submitted together with the State Budget Bill is concretised, and the Bill will lift the compulsory monthly funds expenditure reporting by the publicly-funded organisations and the entities in receipt of financial aid from the State Budget. The document sets the periodicity of submitting that information to the Chamber of Accounts in the event that the State Budget revenue and expenditure assignations are modified functionally, economically and administratively in any given current fiscal term.

The committee chairman turned to the second-reading amendments to the State Debt Law and told the House that they were intended to clarify the status of the Liabilities Liquidation Fund with respect to the state debt and state guarantees, and to set the ceiling for the LLF expenditures. As per the addenda in the Bill, should payments in settlement of the principal amount of the state debt be deducted from the state loan borrowed during a current budgeting year, then, that portion of the said payments that exceeds the projected annual state debt servicing expenses of the State Budget shall not be posted to the SB expenses. The other addenda limit the LLF spending to the sum of its financial balance as at the beginning of the fiscal year coupled with the incomings forecast for the same year.

Anar Mammadov of the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee informed the House about the amendments (in the second reading) to the Tax Code and the Customs Tariff Law. According to his overview, both packages envisage a five-year exemption from the VAT and the customs duties of imported equipment of all kinds, also, machinery, devices, installations, replacement parts, Explosive Ordnance Disposal suits and utensils, mine detection dogs as well as explosive and pyrotechnical tools that are used to purge the de-occupied provinces and other war-stricken parts of Azerbaijan of mines, unexploded ordnance and other devices containing explosive substances.

The parliamentary committee chairman Siyavush Novruzov’s commentary on the Bills was followed by the vote. Both Bills were subsequently adopted in the second reading one by one.

Next, Chairman of the Labour and Social Policy Committee Musa Guliyev told the assembly of the interconnected drafts on the agenda. Specifically, he said that the second-reading amendments to the Unemployment Insurance Law had been drawn up in fulfilment of the presidential decree No 1233 dated 30 December 2020 ‘On Application of the Law of the Azerbaijan Republic No 235-VIQ dated 29 December 2020 “On the 2021 Budget of the Unemployment Insurance Fund”’. The law’s Article 2 containing the main notions as to the ‘insured case’ concept. Besides, it is proposed to broaden the scope of the people on the unemployment dole and reduce to 30 months the terms of the labour contracts concluded within the compulsory minimal 36-month period that begins upon expiry of the previous labour contracts – all to strengthen the social protection of the unemployed. Last but not least, the insurance compensations would be paid immediately upon the occurrence of the insured cases and not three months thereupon.

The committee chairman moved on to the second-reading amendments to the Employment Law and told the House about the benefits for the people in possession of land plots but unengaged otherwise as they took free vocational training courses. Besides, such people would be put on paid public works and engaged in self-employment activities.

MP Aydin Huseynov commented on the amendments. Then, both Bills were voted through the second reading.

The Media Bill was tabled next.

Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova let the assembly know that, because the Bill was tabled, Chairman of the National Television and Broadcasting Council Ismat Sattarov, Executive Director of the Media Development Agency Ahmad Ismayilov, Director of the Legal and HR Department of the MDA Roxana Karimova and Chairman of the Press Council Aflatun Amashov were all present at the plenum.

It was Chairman of the Human Rights Committee Zahid Oruj who tabled the Bill in the second reading. He told of the meetings, hearings and discussions of the draft held whilst it was in the making. Speaking on behalf of the dedicated working group, he thanked the Chair of the Milli Majlis for the ideological, political and organisational support for those gatherings as well as for her personal involvement and help in conducting them. It is good to know, Mr Oruj pointed out, that all the resources of the Milli Majlis members and of the Staff had been tapped to the hilt in order to organise the discourse.

Mr Oruj gave an account of the work done on the Bill, responded to the ideas expressed in the course of the discussions and answered the questions.

It was said further that the ideas voiced during the debates could be put in two groups, one of which is about various aspects of the state policy on media as well as its history and practical aspect whereas the other group was on the adjusting and concretising side. Mr Oruj pointed out that though the Bill stated abundantly clearly that IPTV operations were not to be prohibited, the working group felt it would be expedient to add the new Article 30.8 to the Bill all the same. The quoted numbers do not only boil down to statistical reporting; rather, they indicate that the Parliament demonstrated a determined and open stance regarding enactment of a new law on mass media – the stance that met the national interest, at that.

Now, the Bill being presented for the attention of the MPs marks the first stage of the media reforms, according to Mr Oruj. Building up an improved regulatory framework for that sector will entail the eventual adoption of a media strategy and a media concept.

Mr Oruj touched on financial support to media operators and quoted appropriate international practical cases, talked about the rules of placing advertisements in mass media and operation of the social media in continuation of his overview of the Bill. He also addressed selection of qualified personnel for television, enhancing levels of creativity and training professional journalists who would command foreign languages.

The committee chairman said also that the currently-effective law only endowed the status of a journalist on contracted full-time and part-time correspondents and stringers whereas the new law would encompass journalists working under labour as well as civil law contracts. A person publishing the pieces produced by him/her at his/her own website without concluding any contract will already be an online media subject and relations to be built with such a person will be regulated in this context exactly. As for regulating bloggers, Mr Oruj said that the Bill had no relevant articles or any provisions concerning social networks at all, for that matter. So, the Bill will only revitalise the relations in the field of professional journalism. To shed light on the unbiased, objective event and fact coverage requirement, Mr Орудж told the House that the norms listed in the document set certain obligatory standards to information taken out in mass media rather than to journalist comments. As regards the journalist education question, the Bill does not demand a university degree: this criterion will only be taken into account when journalist’s IDs will be issued. What else the committee chairman said was that the Bill would not impose red tape of any kind. Rather, it contains the articles that stipulate provision of adequate conditions for professional journalists to do their work as well as aiding them in putting out quality news and becoming integrated with the international information environment.

Continuing his explanations, Zahid Oruj laid down the norms regarding the right of political parties and government agencies to incept media subjects. He talked about covert audio & video recording and photographing and about also the rules of spreading the materials thusly collected. Given that mass media have penetrated all the age categories, then, the Bill also contains appropriate norms of public moral, according to Mr Oruj.   

First Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis/Chairman of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Ali Huseynli mentioned the several rounds of the very expansive and fruitful discussions about the Bill. All the questions asked during them were appropriate and to the point, according to Mr Huseynli.

The committee chairman Musa Guliyev and the MPs Fazil Mustafa, Azay Guliyev, Sahib Aliyev, Vahid Ahmadov, Nigyar Arpadarai, Etibar Aliyev, Aghil Abbas and Sabir Rustamkhanli offered their comments about the Bill, whereupon it was adopted in the second reading.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova told the gathering that the next items on the agenda were the Bills in the first reading. The items 19 to 32 inclusive were the drafts submitted to the Milli Majlis by the President of Azerbaijan in one package; they were close to each other substantively, Mrs Gafarova added.     

Chairman of the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee Tahir Mirkishili said that the Bills contained the legal amendments that were subject to the precedent amendments to the laws ‘On Lotteries’ and ‘On Physical Education and Sports’. The amendments to the Law ‘On Lotteries’ were put together subject to the presidential decree ‘On Regulating Certain Matters about the Administrative Takeover of Azerlottery OJSC’ dated 16 January 2021 and meet the demand in adjusting the relevant legislative acts. The current evolution of the information technologies around the world results in the accelerated spread of lotteries and sporting betting games, with the participants numbers on the climb and the growing accessibility of the relevant opportunities putting forth certain state administration challenges. The main tasks here are to protect citizens’ rights, make the whole process more transparent, regulate the specialist organisations and enforce the pertaining articles of the Tax Code.

The Bill covers several areas. It introduces new notions. There are also the changes that are defining the body authorised to organise and conduct lotteries, setting requirements for such a body’s running commissions and embedding in the legislation the relevant regulatory forms and making redundant the ceiling for lottery winning funds. The other amendments still deal with facilitation of the lottery terms and elaboration of a legal framework for virtual lottery runs.

The amendments to the Tax Code determine such points as income tax exemption of lottery and sports betting cash winnings of up to AZN 500 and tax exemption of revenues of corporate and unincorporated lottery ticket sales agents. Besides, the amendments deal with registration of sports betting games operators and sellers of relevant products as well as of lottery operators and lottery ticket sellers. Those will be treated as subject to the simplified taxation system. Last but not least, the Tax Code amendments indicate the taxable parties and the applicable tax rates with sufficient clarity.

As regards the amendments to the Law ‘On Advertising’, Mr Mirkishili went on, they had been drawn up in the context of legislative streamlining of lotteries and sports getting games organisation and conduct. Their ultimate purposes are to delineate the associated advertisement clients and to identify the cases in which no such advertisements will be allowed. Again, these amendments will serve the cause of protecting citizens’ rights whilst making the regulation of the economic sector in question clearer.

According to Ali Huseynli, the amendments to the Lotteries Law bring forth the corresponding amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences, the Civil and Criminal Codes and the Law ‘On Apprehension of the Legalisation of Criminal Proceeds and the Finance of Terrorism’.

Save lotteries and sports betting games, the tabled amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences classify as gambling and stipulate consequent administrative penalties such sessions and commissions as other parties will and/or may organise as business operations that involve distribution of winnings, prizes and other profits. Incidentally, the same amendments provide for administrative liability for organisation of gambling as much as they do for advertisement of gambles by their organisers.

Mr Huseynli then moved on to the draft amendments to the Civil Code and told the House that they were on the concretising side, what with their having been prepared in line with the adjustment of the legislation that pertains to organising and conducting lotteries and sports betting games.

With the exception, again, of lotteries and sports betting games, the tabled amendments to the Criminal Code classify as gambling and stipulate consequent administrative penalties such sessions and commissions as other parties will and/or may organise as business operations that involve distribution of winnings, prizes and other profits as well as such other undertakings that may and/or will cause material damage to the State, including as accompanied with derivation of material profits by the culprits.

A certain portion of the amendments to the Law ‘On Apprehension of the Legalisation of Criminal Proceeds and the Finance of Terrorism’ are clarifications and edits. As for the rest, they will put the Ministry of Economy in charge of the oversight of lottery organisers and the Ministry of Youth and Sports in charge of the oversight of sports betting games operators, according to Mr Huseynli.

Next, Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis/Chairman of the Youth and Sports Committee Adil Aliyev took over to mention that the committee he is heading had discussed and recommended for presentation at a parliamentary plenum the draft amendments to the Law ‘On Physical Education and Sports’. The draft is set to introduce the new notions of ‘virtual environment’, ‘sports games betting IRL’ and ‘virtual dealer’ to the legislative semantics. At the same time, there is a broadened concept of sports bets.

There are the affiliated amendments to be made to several Bills that contain precedent amendments to the laws ‘On Licences and Permits’, ‘On Horse Breeding and the Equestrian Sports’, ‘On State Procurement’, ‘On Telecommunications’ and ‘On Information, Informatisation and Protection of Information’ as well as to the Code of Civil Procedure.

Following such an exhaustive presentation, the Bills in question were voted for adoption in the first reading one after another.

And then Chair of the Committee for Family, Women’s and Children’s Affairs Hijran Huseynova gave an overview of the first-reading amendments to the Civil Code that are drawn up on the strength of the presidential decree ‘On Expanding the Implementation of e-Services in the State Registration of Vital Records’ dated 23 September 2020. The document Mrs Huseynova tabled deals with timely input in the appropriate state data resources and systems of information about births, marriages, divorces, adoptions, paternity determinations, name (also, surname and patronymic) changes, deaths and other vital situations. The data would be fed into the resources via the e-Government Data System. Besides, the Bill concerns transferring such information accurately, issuance of electronic certificates and confirmations and other related matters.

The Bill was adopted in the first reading.

Chairman of the International and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Committee Samad Seyidov tabled the first reading of the Bill ‘On Amending the Consular Charter of the Azerbaijan Republic adopted pursuant to the Law of the Azerbaijan Republic No 782 dated 8 February 1994’. Mr Seyidov told the House that the adjustments were needed because of the progress of the state registration e-services.

The Bill presented by Mr Seyidov was put on vote and adopted in the first reading.

Thus, today’s plenary sitting of the Milli Majlis was over.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis