Today at the Hilton Hotel, by the initiative of the Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva, First Vice President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and organization of the Bar Association of Azerbaijan a conference on "Lawyer's view on judicial-legal reforms" took place. Representatives of the National Assembly, almost 300 lawyers, judges, ambassadors of foreign countries, as well as representatives of various state, non-governmental organizations were among the participants and media were also invited to cover the event.

Speaking at the conference, Mr. Anar Bagirov, Chairman of the Bar Association highlighted the importance of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated 03.04.2019 "On deepening reforms in the judicial-legal system" and stressed the measures which are taken by the Bar Association on the implementation of the recommendations in the Decree also informed the participants of the event about the tasks.

Then Mr. Gunduz Karimov, the Assistant to the First Vice President of the Republic of Azerbaijan informed participants about the significance of the mentioned Decree for the Bar Association, the role of lawyers in judicial-legal reforms and the necessity of the reforms.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Vusal Isayev, Head of Legal Services Sector of the Department for Law Enforcement and Military Affairs of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan noted the contribution of the Decree of the President of Azerbaijan to justice, spoke about the reforms being implemented to ensure the availability of high-quality legal aid to the population in Baku and the regions.

Mr. Namig Askerov, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the member of the Judicial-Legal Council talked about the lawyer-prosecutor relations, shared his views on the importance of the relations in terms of the administration of justice in recent years.

The next part of the event was delivered by Mr. Anar Bagirov, Chairman of the Bar Association, on "The role and place of advocacy in judicial and legal reforms." Chairman of the Board noted that in the recent period, the Bar Association has taken a number of measures to improve the advancement and reputation of the legal profession, logistical support, as well as to improve the quality of legal assistance provided to citizens by lawyers. However, there are certain problems with regard to the Bar Association's activities, financial independence, logistical support, and the number of lawyers in the regions. In this regard, the relevant instructions and recommendations of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, in particular, the issue of granting the funds for lawyers to the Bar Association for legal assistance at the expense of the State was of particular importance.

Later, Mr. Javid Huseynov, the head of the office of the Judicial-Legal Council, made a speech on "Deontological aspects of judge-lawyer relations" and noted that judge-lawyer relations play a special role in judicial-legal reforms and in this respect, non-procedural relations are inadmissible. He noted that the provision in the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated 03.04.2019 "On Deepening the Reforms in the Judicial-Legal System" is a clear example of the importance attached by the state to this area. At the conference, Honorary Lawyer Mr. Ikram Karimov the Chairman of the Board of Elders of the Bar Association made an interesting speech regarding the Decree.

In the second part of the conference, the lecture was delivered by Mr. Shahmar Mammadov, Chairman of the Disciplinary Commission of the Lawyers, the Head of the Legal Aid and Training Centre of the Bar Association on "Ethical behavior of lawyers and preventive measures against non-procedural relations". In addition, at the event, deputy chairman of the Disciplinary Committee Ilhama Hasanova made a report on the criminal law formed by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated 03.04.2019, and Mr. Mukhtar Mustafayev, a member of the Presidium of the Bar Association, made a report on the Civil Rights Working Group.

The conference continued with discussions and questions of the participants were answered.