Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova announced the start of the 2021 spring parliamentary session at the first plenary sitting on 1 February. The National Anthem of the Azerbaijan Republic was played then.  

Madame Speaker congratulated the MPs on the start of the spring session before stressing that the leadership and wisdom of the esteemed President of the Azerbaijan Republic Mr Ilham Aliyev led Azerbaijan from one victory to another.

‘I am pleased to say that our nation completed the year 2020 successfully and has begun the year 2021 with much elation and high hopes,’ Mrs Gafarova said.

‘We repeat proudly today that our glorious Army led by the Commander-in-Chief defeated the armed forces of Armenia to the restitution of the whole national territory of our state. The outstanding victory won on the battlefield was reinforced politically as well as diplomatically whilst the Armenian-Azerbaijani Conflict over Highland Garabagh that had plagued the progress of Azerbaijan for long year is now left in the past.

‘As our esteemed President said, “This war has shown the whole world the greatness of the people of Azerbaijan… We are returning to our Motherland, to our own Garabagh. We are coming home to Shusha that crowns our Garabagh and we shall abide in those lands forever!”’

Madame Chair’s speech was med with applaud.

Then, Mrs Gafarova mentioned her having told of the outcomes of the past session and of last year as a whole on 30 December. The Milli Majlis has taken all the legislative steps available and practicable in order to support the internal and external policy of the esteemed President Ilham Aliyev, Mrs Gafarova pointed out before adding that she was certain the Parliament would not only continue the string of achievements but would also achieve yet more impressive successes during the current session.

According to Madame Speaker, the spring-session legislative work plan is ready and will be discussed today. Apart from Bills, the scope includes, all in keeping with the Constitution and the Laws, the hearings of the annual report by the Cabinet of Ministers, the 2020 State Budget Report, the annual performance report by the Chamber of Accounts and the yearly presentations of the administrative authority supervising the activities of the Human Rights Ombudsman and the municipalities.

Finishing her remarks, Madame Chair said that the new website of the Milli Majlis made to a new design solution was made available to visitors as of today.

The MPs Fazil Mustafa, Ali Masimli, Zahid Oruj, Mushfig Jafarov, Siyavush Novruzov, Aydin Mirzazade, Malahat Ibrahimghizi, Shahin Ismayilov, Tahir Karimli, Elman Nasirov and Erkin Gadirli spoke to state their views and proposals regarding the agenda items, whereafter Mrs Gafarova pointed out that 4 out of the 19 items were draft resolutions.

‘As you may know, the Parliament’s legislative work plan is adopted at the beginning of every session. The legislative work plan of the Milli Majlis of the Azerbaijan Republic for the spring session of 2021 is the first item on our agenda therefore,’ Mrs Gafarova added.

The MPs Zahid Oruj, Sabir Rustamkhanli, Etibar Aliyev, Fazil Mustafa, Gudrat Hasanguliyev, Ali Masimli, Siyavush Novruzov, Elman Nasirov, Jala Aliyeva and Bahrouz Maharramov made known their opinions and proposals regarding the 2021 spring-session plan, after which the document was voted in.

The Disciplinary and Counting parliamentary commissions were formed anew in line with the requirements of the Internal Charter of the Milli Majlis.

Then, the nomination of Humay Efendiyeva as a judge of the Constitution Court of the Azerbaijan Republic was considered.

First Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis and Chairman of the parliamentary Committee for Law Policy and State-Building Ali Huseynli introduced Ms Efendiyeva to the assembly. Then, the MPs Razi Nurullayev, Hijran Huseynova, Siyavush Novruzov and Aydin Mirzazade voiced their ideas about her. The vote that followed confirmed the candidature of Humay Efendiyeva as a judge of the Constitution Court of the Azerbaijan Republic.

Mrs Gafarova said after that that, pursuant to Article 13 of the Law on the Constitution Court, all Constitution Court judges shall be sworn in at the Milli Majlis on the same day on which their nominations are affirmed.

Humay Efendiyeva was sworn in as a judge of the Constitution Court duly then. She did not omit to thank President Ilham Aliyev for her appointment to such a dignified and challenging position.

After that, Chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the Parliament Zahid Oruj gave a presentation of the Bill on ratification of the Memorandum of Understanding of Strategic Mass Media Co-operation between the Azerbaijan Republic and the Turkish Republic. According to Mr Oruj, the document in question envisages strategic mass media partnership of the two countries along with strengthening the bipartite ties. It was stressed that there were large media corporations in the Turkish mass media and that the latter themselves were part of the world media as was demonstrated sufficiently clearly during the 44-day war. The interviews of President Ilham Aliyev were broadcast the world over via the Turkish mass media. So, Mr Oruj summed up, the memorandum is of utmost importance.

Committee Chair Ganira Pashayeva and MP Azay Guliyev had been heard on the point before the plenary sitting was adjourned.

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The adjournment was followed by deliberations on the Bill on ratification of the Memorandum of Understanding of Strategic Mass Media Co-operation between the Azerbaijan Republic and the Turkish Republic. The MPs Fazayil Agamali, Etibar Aliyev, Sahib Aliyev, Anar Iskandarov and Musa Gasimli commented on the Bill that was then put on vote and approved.

Next, Chairman of the parliamentary Committee for International Relations and Interparliamentary Contacts Samad Seyidov tabled the Inter-Governmental Protocol 1 between the Azerbaijan Republic and the Turkish Republic ‘On Amending the Inter-Governmental Agreement about Mutual Cancellation of Visa Treatment between the Azerbaijan Republic and the Turkish Republic, signed in Baku on 25 February 2020.’ Commenting on the document, Mr Seyidov described its future role in the continued rapprochement between Azerbaijan and Turkey.

The MPs Hikmat Mammadov, Rafael Huseynov and Sabir Rustamkhanli put forth their views upon the document. Then, the Protocol was put on vote and approved.

The next agenda item, namely, the draft amendments to the Law ‘On Enactment and Enforcement of the Urban Planning and Construction Code of the Azerbaijan Republic’, was expanded upon by First Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis and Chairman of the parliamentary Committee for Law Policy and State-Building Ali Huseynli. It follows from the Code, Mr Huseynli remarked, that construction projects must meet town development plans’ requirements including those of relevant detailed charts. It is precisely with the purpose of ensuring that such detailed charts are prepared thoroughly that it is now proposed to postpone the enactment of this particular legal provision as well as to extend the pertaining period from 8 to 11 years, according to Mr Huseynli.

Relevant comments came from the MPs Gudrat Hasanguliyev and Bakhtiyar Aliyev, whereafter the draft amendments were put on vote and approved.

Chairman of the parliamentary Committee for Labour and Social Policy Musa Guliyev informed the House about the draft amendment to the Employment Law, saying that it was devised to improve the employment situation in the shahid families and, at the same time, continue making their social protection more robust. To do this, it is motioned that such people should be added to the category of people standing in a special need in social protection. It is also planned to grant shahid family members a legal advantage in engagement for professional training sessions and self-employment programmes as well as in recruitment to positions within the social system.

The amendment was put on vote and approved.

Chair Gafarova mentioned then that the next 11 items on the agenda were the Bills due to be tabled for the first reading.

Namely, the next item was the Constitutional Bill to amend the Constitutional Law of the Azerbaijan Republic ‘On Legal and Regulatory Instruments’. Constitutional laws are voted upon twice in the Milli Majlis and there will be a vote on the first reading of the document at hand, Mrs Gafarova said.

First Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis and Chairman of the parliamentary Committee for Law Policy and State-Building Ali Huseynli who briefed the participants of the plenary sitting on the item in question told them that the goal of the amendments was to settle rule-making activities. It is worth mentioning that though there are, indeed, the means of adjusting and streamlining rule-making activities in practical use, none of those is stipulated in the Constitutional Law. Therefore, Mr Huseynli explained, it is necessary to build a legal framework for such means, especially as a framework of this kind would also provide for a more precise regulation of this area. Apart from that, the amendments are to introduce a number of innovations of which the current practice is devoid, such as the procedure for making legal and regulatory instruments public upon official releases by placing them on each rule-maker’s online information platform. Another innovation is the binding provision following which all regulatory instruments (their structural components) made null and void pursuant to the Constitution Court’s rulings shall be abolished by the same rule-makers that enacted such instruments.

The Constitutional Bill to amend the Constitutional Law of the Azerbaijan Republic ‘On Legal and Regulatory Instruments’ was put on vote and approved in the first reading following the commentaries by the MPs Tahir Karimli and Erkin Gadirli.

Next was the first reading of the package of draft amendments to the Law ‘On Military Duty and Military Service’, the information about which came from Chairman of the Defence, Security and Counter-Corruption Committee of the Milli Majlis Ziyafet Asgarov.  Once the amendments are enacted, the admission examinations to doctoral studies will be conducted in June and September each year (there are three examinations: one in June and two in September) providing that the Cabinet of Ministers finalises the doctoral admission plans and the lists of candidates for the degree by 1 April every year. In addition, Article 21.1.4-1 will grant those prospective conscripts who pass their examinations the right of draft deferment so they can continue their doctoral studies.

The amendments were put on vote and approved in the first reading.

The draft amendments to the Tax Code of the Azerbaijan Republic were tabled for the first reading by Chairman of the Milli Majlis Committee for Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Tahir Mirkishili. Mr Mirkishili said that, pursuant to the Code, importation, sales and production of wheat, wheat flour and bread were granted a four-year VAT exemption from 1 January 2017 to 1 January 2021. The draft being tabled stipulates an extension of the exemption period by a year.

It was mentioned next that there was the motion to exempt jewellery and punchwork from the excise duties for three years longer to promote the local jewellery producers and processors as well as to underpin the progress of such ancient applied arts as these. The liberation of the Kalbajar Province of Azerbaijan with its rich gold deposits after the long period of Armenian captivity is worth recalling, too, because the said exemptions would ensure those deposits were developed rationally.

Mr Mirkishili also told the House of the intended addition of tobacco goods to the list of excisable goods simultaneously with raising the corresponding production and importation excise duty rates so as to reduce the consumption of such hazardous substances.

The MPs Musa Guliyev, Azer Badamov, Fazil Mustafa, Ganira Pashayeva, Tahir Rzayev, Gudrat Hasanguliyev, Aghil Abbas and Rashad Mahmudov shared their opinions about the document and made a number of relevant motions during the deliberations. Then, the draft amendments to the Tax Code were approved in the first reading.

Further, Madame Chair spoke of the two essentially interlinked agenda items. Those were draft amendments (and both in the first reading) 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 [enacted pursuant to the Law of the Azerbaijan Republic No 960-IIQ dated 28 June 2005] and the Lists of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and the Quantities Thereof, Including Substantial Ones, Sufficient for Incrimination and Criminal Prosecution [enacted pursuant to the Law of the Azerbaijan Republic No 961-IIQ dated 28 June 2005].

The reference on both was supplied by the member of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Amina Agazade who mentioned the additions of late to the lists of narcotics and psychotropic substances either controlled or restricted by the International Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, 1988, the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 and the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971. Those additions, however, are not incorporated into the relevant laws of the Azerbaijan Republic; the proposed amendment is intended to address this omission. The names of the new narcotic and psychotropic substances will be added to the relevant laws and lists outlawing their traffic and providing grounds for legal persecution of traffickers.

Both items were voted through the first reading one after another.

The member of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Kamal Jafarov informed the MPs of the draft amendments (both in the first reading) to the Motoring Traffic Law and the Code of Administrative Offences of the Azerbaijan Republic. Again, both parcels were being tabled together due to their affinity.

As regards the amendments to the Motoring Traffic Law, their purpose is to improve the traffic proper as well as the safety rules that apply to it. In the meantime, the amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences introduce a clarification and concretisation of the ways in which reckless driving is perpetrated. At the same time, it is proposed to leave it to the Cabinet of Ministers of the Azerbaijan Republic to set the rules of using car-window curtains, blinds and tint film.

First, the MPs Etibar Aliyev, Руфат Guliyev, Gudrat Hasanguliyev and Siyavush Novruzov put forth their considerations regarding the proposed amendments. Then, both Bills were put on vote and approved in the first reading.

The presentation of the first-reading amendments to the Law on the Notaries was delivered by the member of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Nurlan Hasanov. Mr Hasanov mentioned the proposed cancellation of the state duty or charge for documents not intended for release to a person who has applied for notarial acts – including for the documents drafted for addition to a notarial case. There would be no state duty for notarisation of hardcopy printouts of e-documents retrieved from digital data systems, either.

The Bill was approved in the first reading.

The information about the draft amendments (in the first reading) to the State Duty Law was shared by Deputy Chairman of the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee Ali Masimli who described citizens’ satisfaction with notary services as the draft’s aim and mentioned reduction of the relevant duties and, in some cases, their abolition.

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

Next, the member of the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee Mahir Abbaszade tabled for the first reading the draft amendments to the Unemployment Insurance Law. Mr Abbaszade said that the e-services associated with the appointment of the unemployment insurance payments were rendered through the centralised electronic data system of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population as it was.  It followed from the amendments, Mr Abbaszade continued, that the average monthly salary amount underlying calculation of the insurance payments will be determined on the basis of the monthly income information derived from the insurance premiums paid by the policyholder and reported in the centralised data system of the Ministry. It will thus be possible to collect automatically the monthly income information required for calculation of the average monthly salary (for the insurance payment’s calculation is based on the average salary). Ultimately, there will be no need in the citizen-government official interaction as the insurance payment is assigned; submission of various documents by the policyholder and the insurer will be made redundant, too, which will promote transparency.

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

Chair of the Culture Committee of the Milli Majlis Ganira Pashayeva introduced the draft amendments (in the first reading) to the Law ‘On the Copyright and the Neighbouring Rights’ as the last item on the agenda of the sitting. Article 27 of the Law determines compositions and units in the public domain, including those with expired copyrights, the Azerbaijani lore (traditional culture) pieces and the traditional knowledge. The goal pursued in classifying such compositions and units as being in the public domain is their protection against illegal exploitation or from harmful acts where there is no author’s supervision.

At the same time, the Law permits declaration of compositions in the public domain as those in the state domain with the consequent legal grounds for such pieces’ use on a paid basis.

The MPs Sabir Rustamkhanli and Hijran Huseynova expressed their opinions about the Bill. Then, it was put on vote and approved in the first reading.

And with that, the first plenary sitting of the Milli Majlis in the 2021 spring session drew to a close.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis