Another scheduled meeting in plenary in the spring parliamentary session took place as chaired by Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova on 5 April.

Before the assembly would turn to the items put on the agenda of the plenum, Mrs Gafarova told them about the recent visits, one official and one working, of the Milli Majlis delegations she had been heading.

The Azerbaijani parliamentary delegations were in Almaty, the Republic of Kazakhstan, for the events honouring the thirtieth anniversary of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly on 28-29 March. There, the Chair of the Milli Majlis had delivered a speech at the festive congress of the Assembly on 29 March; Mrs Gafarova had read out the address of President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan to the participants and proceeded to voice her opinions about the topic of the gathering. She told her audience that the CIS IPA was a favourable platform on which to exchange the experience of political, legal, economic, humanitarian and otherwise legislation.

New realia were established in the South Caucasus as a result of Azerbaijan’s having liberated its own lands from the Armenian occupation, Mrs Gafarova remarked before telling the House about those realia. There are peace and co-operation prospects in the region in its post-war period; in this connexion, Mrs Gafarova recalled the paragraphs of the Trilateral Statement signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia on 10 November 2020. Azerbaijan remains committed to its obligations under that statement but the Armenian side, too, ought to honour its part and work towards normalising the relations. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has not yet been able to extract any comprehensible answer from Armenia about the fate of the almost four thousand Azerbaijanis reported missing ever since the times of the Garabagh War I.

Sahiba Gafarova told the House as she continued her account that the speaker of the Armenian parliament who had spoken after her had put claims to Azerbaijan, including about alleged ceasefire violations. In response, Mrs Gafarova had taken the floor again and told all the participants of that session of the just position our country is taking. She had reminded them that the remnants of the Armenian troops and the illegal Armenian armed squads were to be withdrawn from the Azerbaijani territories completely pursuant to Article 4 of the Trilateral Statement.

There is no territorial unit called ‘Nagorno Karabakh’, Sahiba Gafarova had been saying at the CIS IPA session. Azerbaijan had handed all the POWs to Armenia in keeping with the above-said trilateral statement whereas the Armenian armed groups that had infiltrated and were infiltrating the territory of Azerbaijan after the signing date of that document, which is, again, the 10^th of November, are not POW subject to the Geneva Convention. Azerbaijan has put a five-point document on normalisation of the relations to Armenia and is expecting an answer now.

Turning to the details of the working trip to Kazakhstan then, the Chair of the Milli Majlis told of her bilateral contacts with the heads of the other attending parliamentary delegations. Also, she had had meetings with Chair of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matviyenko and Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan Maulen Ashimbayev. They had exchanged views upon the progress of inter-parliamentary connexions, amongst other things.

There had also been an official visit of the Milli Majlis delegation to the Republic of Uzbekistan from 31 March to 2 April. Uzbekistan occupies a considerable geopolitical position in Central Asia; its territory is approximately 449,000 square kilometres and its population is close to 34 million. Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan are bound with the common historical roots, religious and moral values and linguistic unity upon which rests their very close friendship. The furtherance of the bilateral relations with Uzbekistan is one of the material foreign political goals of Azerbaijan.

According to Sahiba Gafarova, the first meeting that had taken part in the course of the official visit to Uzbekistan was with Chairman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbayeva on 1 April. Mrs Gafarova and Mrs Narbayeva had expressed the shared pleasure with the dynamic advance of the relations between their friendly states and had also highlit the roles of their parliaments in making the bipartite ties profounder.

The work done by the friendship groups active in both national legislatures and our MPs’ mutual support and collaboration in the international organisations had been referenced duly. The political dialogue setting high standards bears well on the progress of the relations in other areas, too, the speakers of the legislatures had agreed.

On the same day, the chairs of the Milli Majlis and the Senate of the Oliy Majlis had inked an inter-parliamentary co-operation agreement and a road map document for 2022.

On 1 April, again, was Sahiba Gafarova’s conversation with Chairman of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis Nurdinjon Ismoilov. Mrs Gafarova and Mr Ismoilov had shared their satisfaction with the energetic progress of the political, economic, cultural and humanitarian co-operation between their countries. The inter-state documents signed to date form the dependable legal foundation on which the interaction is based, the speakers had agreed. They had also discussed ways to broaden the inter-parliamentary collaboration and had underlined the need in keeping up a dialogue in this area.

Also on 1 April, Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova had a meeting with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Their conversation had touched on the level of interaction having gone much higher since our states had gained independence and on the outstanding achievements made in the bilateral format over the recent years. The splendid terms on which the leaders of Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan are factored massively into the on-going progress of the countries’ dynamic, efficient and mutually beneficial relations, it had been said at the meeting. The joint activities have moved forth notably and in every area, too, including economic and political affairs, culture and social matters.

The leader of the Azerbaijani parliament and the president of Uzbekistan had also spoken of the fruitful roles of the Azerbaijani and Uzbek legislatures in the progress of the Uzbek-Azerbaijani relations. They had underlined the importance of strengthening systematic and continual interaction between the Milli Majlis and the Oliy Majlis eventually. As the immediate heralds of their respective nations, the parliamentarians of our countries should be at the cutting edge of the people’s democracy and its promotion, including in strengthening the ties amongst the provinces of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan and backing economic and humanitarian undertakings, it was said during the conversation.

As ever during her foreign visits, that time, too, Madame Speaker had told the president of Uzbekistan and the heads of both chambers of the Uzbek parliament in great detail of the victory of Azerbaijan in the 44 days’ Patriotic War and the new situation as well as new opportunities established in our region.

It had been said that our country had freed its lands under the leadership of Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev in 2020 – after almost thirty years of Armenian occupation. Thusly, Azerbaijan had not only made its national territory intact once more but had also enforced the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council all by its own.

Once again, it had been said that the Garabagh Conflict had been sent to history annals and that Azerbaijan was currently busy restoring its towns and villages that Armenia had destroyed during the period of occupation.

Also, the unwavering support of Uzbekistan for the sovereignty, territorial wholeness and inviolability of Azerbaijan’s borders and the Uzbek assistance in building a school in Fuzuli Province had been mentioned fondly.

There had been other activities during the official visit to Uzbekistan, too, Sahiba Gafarova told the House. To wit, our delegation arrived at the embassy of Azerbaijan in Tashkent, adorned with flower bunches the bust of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev there and then put a wreath before the Independence Monument in the New Uzbekistan Park – all on 1 April. On 2 April, the delegation went to the Heydar Aliyev Culture Centre and put a wreath and flour bunches at the monument of the Great Leader. The delegation members acquainted themselves with the museum’s exhibits narrating about various life and work periods of the world-scale politician and statesman Heydar Aliyev and those exhibits that pertain to the relations between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. In addition, the delegation of the Milli Majlis visited the Presidential School in Tashkent and gave it a memory gift and books.

Then, there was the acquaintance with the Hazrati Imam Mosque, the Mui-Mubarek Madrasa (erected in the 16^th century) and the library of the Muslim Department of Uzbekistan.

Concluding her account, the Chair of the Milli Majlis told the House that the official visit of the Azerbaijani parliamentary delegation to Uzbekistan had been fruitful. She thanked each delegation member for that success.

The current issues were discussed then. A number of topics were commented upon by the committee chairs Hijran Huseynova and Zahid Oruj as well as the MPs Bahrouz Maharramov, Ali Masimli, Vahid Ahmadov, Fazil Mustafa, Aydin Mirzazade, Razi Nurullayev, Rufat Guliyev and Elman Nasirov. They talked about the latest provocations on the part of Armenia, the false reports made by foreign mass media, the adamant stance of the president of Azerbaijan and the high morale of our soldiers. The developments of the past few days had shown clearly the important steps taken by Azerbaijan in the name of lasting peace and security in the region, the MPs said.

The exacting response Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova had given to the speaker of the Armenian parliament at the meeting of the CIS IPA Council in Almaty was talked about as well. Besides, the MPs mentioned the opposing side’s self-expressed preparedness for a peace deal. That in particular the Armenian press had put down as another failure of the Armenians, incidentally, the Milli Majlis members pointed out.

Sahiba Gafarova announced then that the agenda of today’s plenary sitting contained 17 items and that Item 1 was the annual report by the Municipality Activities Administrative Supervision Authority.

It was Deputy Minister of Justice Vilayat Zahirov that presented the said report to the Milli Majlis.

The modern Azerbaijani State, created by the National Leader Heydar Aliyev, had continued progressing under the oversight of President Ilham Aliyev in 2021, too, Mr Zahirov told the law-makers. That year had been marked by the colossal restoration work done to restore and rebuild the native lands liberated – the tremendous efforts to revive them, the Deputy Minister continued. The large-scale restoration going on under the guidance of President Ilham Aliyev and with reliance upon the initiatives of First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva had culminated in the emergence of the road & transport, energy and social infrastructure of Garabagh and East Zangazur in a short while. The achievements list includes the Victory Road, the Fuzuli international airport that is in operation already, the curtain raised on the Zangazur Corridor, the Kharibulbul Festival held in our cultural capital of Shusha and the resumed Vaghif Poetry Days.

Armenia’s occupation-period atrocities in our lands, her crimes, both military and against humanity and, especially, her mining of our territories put serious hurdles in the path of the continuing restoration work. More macabrely, the mines lead to further civilian victims and the world community has been alerted to that fact duly. The Ministry of Justice had been very tenacious to that end, what with more than 70 letters sent to ministries of justice, prosecution offices and judges of other countries in 2021. Such letters had also been sent to officials of the influential international organisations with the UN and the Council of Europe amongst them, including the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross and, furthermore, to executives of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities, the World Bank and so forth.

The Defence Minister who went on with his report mentioned the immediate involvement of the municipalities in the purposeful action initiated in Azerbaijan in the post-conflict period, including the care taken of the shahid families and war veterans, complete with addressing their complications. In addition, the municipalities had been setting up memorial sites and drinking fountains to perpetuate the memory of the war’s fallen. They had also been active about wakes and commemoration gatherings. At the same time, there had been compassionate benefit campaigns to improve the shahid families’ and war veterans’ financial situations; the districts and streets where they live had been gentrified and their houses had been refurbished.

Vilayat Zahirov told the House about the efforts made to streamline the municipality workings within the greater frameworks of the comprehensive reforms that were under way in our country throughout 2021. The municipalities were provided with state aid with a view to improving their financial positions.

Nothing fewer than 80,359 municipal acts passed legal checks last year; that included 3,116 acts processed by the Ministry of Justice of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. As many as 76,720 acts (95.5% of their total number) were found to be in compliance with the legislation based on the subsequent findings. Furthermore, the report year had seen 4,092 appeals about municipalities’ actions considered. By and large, both the acts and the appeals had resulted in administrative controlling initiatives; the municipalities had received cautions and suggestions regarding 3,286 acts at odds with legislative requirements; 2,232 of those had been terminated and 732 corrected; the remaining 19 had become subjects of litigation over ignored corrective recommendations. The total of 9,096 ha of land including 6,848 ha of pastures had been returned to municipal ownership or use pursuant to either the recommendations or the lawsuits of the Ministry of Justice.

Citizens’ applications had been treated with utmost sensitivity and care as instructed by the Head of State; such an approach had ensured resolution and closure of 294 appealed cases including 96 filed by the shahid families and war veterans who happen to be under special supervision.

Further to the contents of the annual report, 75 municipal office-holders had been subjected to administrative penalties in line with Article 549 of the Code of Administrative Offences. The investigation undertaken as part of administrative supervision had unveiled 27 serious violations; the paperwork had been compiled and submitted to the appropriate investigation bodies for eventual legal conclusions; criminal cases had been initiated in connexion with 15 cases.

The troubleshooting associated with the levying of local taxes and collections which, by the way, form one of the staple local budget sources, had been in the focus last year as well, the reporter continued. The municipal budget revenues on the land and property taxes alone had exceeded the 2020 figures by approximately AZN 3.5 mn in 2021 thanks to the registration of the heretofore omitted taxation objects; that had included the approximate increase by AZN 2.5 mn achieved by the municipalities of Baku. Also, roundabout AZN 2 mn of past years’ land rent debts owed to the local budgets had been settled last year.

Overall, the steps taken in 2021 had brought about functional improvements, a higher reputation and a better financial condition of the municipalities, Mr Zahirov concluded.

That was followed by the chairman of the Milli Majlis Regional Affairs Committee Siyavush Novruzov making heard the committee’s conclusion about the annual report, which, Mr Novruzov pointed out, was informative concerning the administrative supervision over the municipalities as well as regarding the methodological and other assistance with the arrangement of municipality workings. The matter had been scrutinised in minute detail at the previous committee meetings because it had been cleared for the tabling at the plenum, Mr Novruzov added.

There had been positive shifts in the handling of the municipalities in the report year. More than 80,000 municipal acts had undergone compliance checks at the Ministry; over 4,000 appeals about municipalities’ work had been considered, too. The Ministry had stepped up the countering of violations and irregularities in municipal operations acting in line with the instructions and orders of the Head of State to ensure steadfast compliance with the laws, provide people with worthy services, enhance transparency and avert corruption. More than 3,000 municipal acts contradicting the law had been either cancelled or returned to the submitting municipalities together with the correction instructions.

The committee chairman emphasised the importance of the especially sensitive and caring attitude to citizens’ applications and of the yet more attentive than before approach to shahid family and war veteran appeals shown last year. Having said that a considerable portion of the feedback about municipalities and their work had been about land matters, Mr Novruzov told the House about the broader counteraction to discourage illegal land use and land seizures, especially as far as gaits are concerned. The municipal acreage regained in 2021 was 1,000 ha greater than in 2020. Also, twice as many illegal municipal acts about gaits had been either cancelled or corrected last year; all that was done at the request of the Ministry of Justice or following court verdicts.

Another highlight of the report is the notable increase of the local budgets last year. The Ministry of Justice had carried out a massive kind of work to push local-budget revenues up and ensure the budget spending would be efficient and rational.

In conclusion, Mr Novruzov mentioned the immediate involvement of the Ministry of Justice in the scheduled 2021 monitoring undertaken by the CE Congress of Local and Regional Authorities to check after our country’s performance of its obligations and duties subject to the European Charter of Self-Government.

Debates followed. Commentaries were made by the parliamentary committee chair Hijran Huseynova and the MPs Fazil Mustafa, Vahid Ahmadov, Tahir Karimli, Vugar Bayramov, Konul Nurullayeva, Razi Nurullayev, Ali Masimli, Gudrat Hasanguliyev and Etibar Aliyev. Their responses to the annual report by the Municipality Activity Administrative Supervision Body about the work done last year were favourable. As regards the document itself, the MPs set its composition met high standards.  Remarks and suggestions were made, too.

It was decided eventually to note the annual report of the Municipality Activity Administrative Supervision Body for 2021, which was done duly.

The amendments to the parliamentary resolution About the Make-Up of the Toponymy Commission of the Milli Majlis of the Azerbaijan Republic was reviewed next.

The Toponymy Commission’s chairman Isa Habibbayli who covered that item said it was necessary to make membership changes because of the deceases of the Director of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) Geography Institute Academician Ramiz Mammadov and the Head of the Toponymy Sector of the Nasimi Linguistics Institute, PhD Philology Gara Mashadiyev. The names of the deceased should be erased from the commission members’ list, Mr Habibbayli explained before recommending that the vacated positions should be filled by the senior research fellow at the Nizami Ganjavi Institute of Literature PhD Philology Professor Akif Kazim oglu Imanli and the leading researcher/senior lecturer at the Nasimi Linguistics Institute DLitt Elshad Sharafkhan oglu Abishov. Then, Mr Habibbayli told the House about both candidates’ work.

The MPs rather took to the candidates. Then, the draft resolution of the Milli Majlis On the Make-Up of the Toponymy Commission of the Milli Majlis of the Azerbaijan Republic was voted in.

Chair Gafarova let it be known that the next four agenda items were about ratification of the international treaties that the President of the country had submitted to the Milli Majlis. Those would be passed in one reading only pursuant to the pertaining stipulations in the Constitutional Law ‘On the Regulatory Legal Acts’, according to Sahiba Gafarova.

The chairman of the International and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Committee Samad Seyidov presented a draft resolution to ratify the protocol on the compulsory payments of the states that are signatories to the Financial Rules of the Secretariat of the Council of the Turkic-Speaking States. Mr Seyidov who talked about the gravity of the protocol underlined its purpose: to regulate the above-said rules of the Secretariat. The document contains a break-down of the respective financial inputs the arrival of which will ensure that the Council functions properly.

MP Hikmat Mammadov asked a question about the presentation and MP Seyidov answered that, after which the draft was voted in.

The Chair of the Milli Majlis said after that that the Items 4^th and 5^th of the agenda had arrived in one envelope from the President and were about ratification of Azerbaijani-Georgian inter-governmental agreements.  

The chairman of the Defence, Security and Counter-Corruption Committee Ziyafet Asgarov tabled the Bill of the Azerbaijan Republic on ratification of the agreement between the governments of the Azerbaijan Republic and Georgia about checkpoints on the Azerbaijani-Georgian border.

There are, Mr Asgarov was saying, the effective Azerbaijani-Georgian treaty of reinforcement of friendship, co-operation and joint security dated 8 March 1996 and the agreement of co-operation in frontier matters, inked on 18 February 1997. The agreement in question now had been drawn up and then signed on the force of those two; besides, it had been signed in consideration of the importance of streamlining and optimising the trans-border haulage co-operation and boosting the throughput capacity of the border checkpoints. The goal pursued here is improvement of the state border crossing conditions for physical persons and transport vehicles – including those carrying commodities and other cargoes. Lastly, there is the imperative to appreciate the importance of maintaining the cultural, humanitarian and other ties between the Azerbaijan Republic and the citizens of Georgia, Mr Asgarov added.

The chairman of the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee Tahir Mirkishili tabled, in turn, the Bill on reversal of the law that had ratified the inter-governmental agreements of the Azerbaijan Republic and the Republic of Georgia ‘On Co-operation in Standardisation, Metrology and Compliance Appraisal’ and ‘On Co-operation in Standardisation, Metrology and Certification’..

The one about standardisation, metrology and certification which is to be repealed had been signed in 1997. In its place will be ratified the Standardisation Co-operation Agreement signed on 29 September 2021 with the main purpose of eliminating technical hindrances in trading operations with a view firmly to the economic interests of the two states.

Having listened to Samad Seyidov state the favourable conclusion about the agenda item of the International and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Committee, the House then heard the comments and suggestions of the chairman of the Regional Affairs Committee Siyavush Novruzov.

Next, both Bills were voted in one by one.

Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova proceeded to let the assembly know of the successful implementation by President Ilham Aliyev of the Azerbaijan Republic of the national oil strategy the inception of which was the Contract of the Century, signed on 20 September 1994 thanks to the endeavours of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev. More than contracts have been signed with various petroleum companies to date; those contracts are playing a massive part in the economic advancement of Azerbaijan.

Now, today, the House is to look at another contract of the kind, according to Mrs Gafarova. It is a Risks Services Agreement between the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic and GL International Ltd about rehabilitation and development of the block of oil-fields Buzovna-Mashtaga, Gala and Zira onshore Azerbaijan.

The overview of the Bill on conclusion, ratification and commissioning of the contract Mrs Gafarova had mentioned was given by the chairman of the Natural Resources, Energy and Ecology Committee Sadig Gurbanov.

Mr Gurbanov touched on the development history of the oil-fields in question and said that the Risks Services Agreement would be instrumental in the overall attraction of local investments, promotion of local human resources and implementation of new technologies. Mr Gurbanov also informed the assembly of the parameters of the proposed rehabilitation of the future’s contract area under the agreement that SOCAR and GL International Ltd had inked on 14 December 2021: the contractor obligations under the 24-month interim period and the subsequent 25-year-long upstream period, regarding production increase and sharing, exploration, employment of Azerbaijani citizens and staff training.

When discussion began, the MPs Vahid Ahmadov, Vugar Bayramov, Tahir Karimli, Iltizam Yusifov, Asim Mollazade and Rauf Aliyev lauded the contract. They also provided their commentaries, made remarks and suggestions.

Sadig Gurbanov and SOCAR’s Vice President Yashar Latifov clarified some issues the MPs had pinpointed, and answered their questions.

Next, the Bill was put on vote and passed.

After that came the turn of the agenda items lined up for the second reading.

The head of the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee Tahir Mirkishili provided an overview of the following agenda items, namely, the package of amendments to the Licences and Permits Law and to the State Duty Law (both in the second reading), submitted by the President to the Milli Majlis in one package. Both documents follow the Media Law and are intended to align the licensable TV/broadcasting subjects with the audio-visual media classification imposed by the Media Law, according to Mr Mirkishili.

The Bills were voted through the second reading one after another.  

Then, Tahir Mirkishili proceeded to the second-reading amendments to the State Property Privatisation Law. He told the assembly that, pursuant to Article 11.2 of the Law, there would be deductions from the state property privatisation returns at the disposal of the state authority carrying out the privatisation. Such deductions will be spent on the ends defined in the said article. Also, it is proposed to put in more relevant spending items so that the list would include supporting operations of the already-privatised enterprises and facilities, supporting also the safekeeping and protection of state property and reinforcing the logistical foundation of the state property seller. Now, the amendment at hand will add to the efficiency of the relevant activities of the concerned state agency.

Comments and remarks came from the MPs Gudrat Hasanguliyev, Elnur Allahverdiyev and Naghif Hamzayev. After Mr Mirkishili had responded to them, the Bill in question was put on vote and approved in the second reading.

Anar Mammadov of the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee then informed the House of the amendments (in the second reading) to the Anti-Monopoly Activities Law, the Food Products Law and the State Secret Law. The State Reserves Agency had been established, and its charter had been approved pursuant to the relevant presidential decrees; the amendments now tabled before the assembly had been composed in that connexion and were on the adjusting side, MP Mammadov said. It was proposed to replace the word ‘material’ with the phrases ‘State and mobilisation’ and ‘and mobilisation’.

The favourable resumes on the document given by the Law Policy and State-Building Committee and the Agrarian Policy Committee were heard. The voting followed; the Bill was approved in the second reading subsequently.

And the plenum moved on to the first-reading Bills put on its agenda.

Mr Mirkishili tabled the Bill ‘On Investment Activities’ in the first reading, saying that it had been submitted to the Milli Majlis by the Head of State and its composition had relied on the relevant experience of several countries and had taken into account the latest innovations in the international investment laws. The draft law had been discussed together with the World Bank experts; their recommendations and suggestions had been taken into consideration duly.

The Bill that consists of 4 chapters and 19 articles is devised to determine the legal and economic basics of investment operations in Azerbaijan as well as to guarantee protection of investors’ rights and lawful interests. It shall apply to local and overseas investors’ activities within the territory of Azerbaijan. The future law lays down the main principles to underlie the state regulation of investment; it also determines the goals and main vectors of the corresponding state policy as well as of investment stimulation, the topmost priorities and the forms and specific features of investing. Furthermore, the document contains provisions concerning investors’ rights and obligations. At the same time, the Bill affords state guarantees for investment operations inclusive of the investor and investment treatment regime. There are, besides, nationalisation and investment expropriation safeguards in the draft law, as are the conditions of investment return transfers, dispute resolution, damage compensation and investment operations’ suspension. Violations of the new law shall be liable subject to the corresponding articles of the Civil Code, the Code of Administrative Offences and the Criminal Code.

The MPs Fazil Mustafa, Gudrat Hasanguliyev, Aydin Huseynov and Elshad Mirbashir oglu found it necessary to state their views on this Bill, whereafter it was voted through the first reading.

The next two items on the agenda, interconnected by their essences, were presented to the House by the chairman of the Defence, Security and Counter-Corruption Committee Ziyafet Asgarov. Those were the amendments to the Narcological Service and the Narcological Control Law and a package of amendments to containing amendments to the laws ‘On the Status of Military Personnel’, ‘On the Circulation of Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and their Precursors’ and ‘On the Military Duty and Service’ as well as to the Internal Service Statute of the Armed Forces of the Azerbaijan Republic enacted by the law No 887 of the Azerbaijan Republic dated 23 September 1994. Both compendia were brought before the assembly in the first reading.

Both Bills are drawn up on the force of the presidential decree No 1334 of 22 July 2019 enacting the 2019-2024 State Action Programme against Narcotics and Psychotropic Compounds Traffic and Drug Addiction. The said decree’s Item 4.2 envisages adjustment and optimisation of the pertaining legislation, in which connexion the tabled amendments, in turn, will introduce compulsory narcological inspection of the citizens falling into certain categories. Namely, active military service conscripts (will be inspected whilst conscripted), the active military service personnel (will be inspected at least once a year), voluntary officers (will be inspected after the relevant orders are signed off) and contractees.

The deputy chairman of the Health Committee Rashad Mahmudov and a member of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Nizami Safarov put forth the favourable conclusions about the Bills. Also, the parliamentary committee chairman Siyavush Novruzov and the MPs Fazil Mustafa, Sahib Aliyev, Etibar Aliyev and Sabir Rustamkhanli voiced their considerations.

After that, the Bills were put on vote and passed in the first reading one by one.

The aforementioned Nizami Safarov then brought before the Milli Majlis the first-reading amendments to the Criminal Code which he said had been put together as one of the components of the reinforcement in the struggle against trafficking and addiction. The Codes contains the legal norms concerning illegal acquisition, possession, production, processing and trafficking of narcotics, psychotropic compounds and precursors in considerable, large and especially large amounts without the intent to sell. Such acts with large and especially large amounts entail sterner sanctions. At the same time, it is now offered to introduce more rigorous sanctions also for illegal acquisition, storage and production of narcotics, psychotropic compounds and precursors with the intent to sell as well as for the acts covered by the Criminal Code articles Nos 235, 237 and 240.

Next, Nizami Safarov proceeded to table the amendments (in the first reading) to the Code of Administrative Offences, telling the colleagues that their purpose was to align that code with the above-said amendments to the Criminal Code. In this particular case, however, the cases entailing administrative rather than criminal penalties are addressed, and it follows from the amendments that they are to come into effect on the same day as will the law defining the ‘considerable amounts’ of narcotics and psychotropes.

The deputy chairman of the Health Committee Rashad Mahmudov presented the favourable conclusion of his committee about the Bills, which were then voted through the first reading one by one.

The same Nizami Safarov then informed the House of another first-reading set of amendments, this time, to the Code of Criminal Procedure. It is proposed, as one of the tools to harden the action against trafficking and addiction, to destroy or transfer to appropriate offices for subsequent medical use such narcotics, psychotropes and precursors as well as other high-potency substances that are seized and removed from trafficking as body of evidence supporting pre-trial criminal proceedings. Such material evidence will also be either destroyed or relegated for medical use where their quantities exceed the ‘especially large amount’ limits set for such substances legislatively.

MP Rashad Mahmudov put before the House the relevant positive conclusion of the Health Committee.

The next agenda item, which was a first-reading amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure, was, too, tabled by Nizami Safarov. Digital criminal judicial proceedings are conducted via the e-Court information system pursuant to Article 51-1.1 of the CCP and in keeping with the procedural regulations contained in it. This amendment is on the adjusting side: it defines the judicial proceedings conducted via the e-Court system by way of judicial oversight in the course of judicial proceedings and at pre-trial.

Other than that, the amendment in question will facilitate integration of the concerned offices’ own data systems with the e-Court to provide for eventual exchange of procedural documents and other files with courts of law electronically and in accordance with the procedural regulations postulated in the CCP.

The MPs Gudrat Hasanguliyev and Tahir Karimli commented on the above items before the corresponding Bills were voted through the first reading separately.

And then, today’s plenary sitting of the Milli Majlis was concluded.  

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis