On October 4, the Marriott Absheron Hotel hosts an international conference on “Strong and prestigious advocacy – modern challenges”, organized by the Bar Association of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the German Society for International Cooperation, within the anniversary year of advocacy of Azerbaijan.

The event was attended by representatives of the Presidential Administration, members of Milli Majlis, chairmen and judges of the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and other courts, heads and representatives of prosecutors and judicial authorities, heads and members of bar associations of more than 20 countries where more than 200 foreign lawyers, representatives of the United Nations and other international organizations, as well as government bodies and non-governmental organizations, members of Azerbaijani Bar Association, representatives of the legal community.

Opening remarks of the event was made by Mr. Fuad Alasgarov, Assistant to the President for Work with Law Enforcement Bodies and Military Issues, Head of Department, Mr. Fikrat Mammadov, Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan, Chairman of the Judicial-Legal Council, Mr. Ramiz Rzayev, President of Supreme Court of Azerbaijan, Mr. Zakir Garalov, Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan, Ms. Sonia Fontaine, Country Director of GIZ Azerbaijan, Mr. Thomas Herrmann, Former Project Leader of GIZ Azerbaijan.

Mr. Fuad Alasgarov, Assistant to the President for Work with Law Enforcement Bodies and Military Issues, Head of Department, stated in his speech that advocacy in Azerbaijan has gone through a complicated process. However, this institution has reached its highest level of development after the restoration of Azerbaijan's independence. Developed under the leadership of nationwide leader Heydar Aliyev and adopted by referendum in 1995, the Constitution laid the foundation for the transition of our society to a modern, democratic, legal state building. In the context of the implementation of fundamental legal economic and social reforms in Azerbaijan, the development of free enterprise, a new type of legal institution is needed. The new democratic constitution of independent Azerbaijan has laid the groundwork for a radical change in the legal status of advocacy and its formation as an effective mechanism for ensuring human rights and freedoms.

“Reliable protection of human rights is the cornerstone of a democratic state and an indicator of the maturity of each society. In this regard, the Law on Lawyers and Advocacy, adopted in 1998 at the next stage of reform, has played a great role as a real guarantee of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution, including the right of everyone to access high quality legal aid. This law, developed with the participation of the German Society for International Cooperation, established the new status of the lawyers and the guarantee of their independence. Along with other legislative acts, the principle of procedural equality of the parties was established. However, the evolution of society does not stop there”, - Assistant to President noted.

He stated that Deepening judicial and legal reforms in Azerbaijan, as well as strengthening the institution of advocacy is one of the priorities of President Ilham Aliyev's policy. Emphasizing that Presidential Order signed on February 22, 2018 "On additional measures to develop advocacy in the Republic of Azerbaijan" is an obvious example of important steps in this area: “The Order emphasizes the importance of a strong and authoritative advocacy institution for the effective operation of justice. The main directions of the measures envisaged in this document are to expand the activities of advocacy organizations in the regions of the country, to improve the material and technical support of the Bar Association, as well as to increase access to legal services for low-income individuals. According to the Order, the amount paid by the state to lawyers for providing free legal aid to low-income people was tripled. At the same time, the Bar Association has been made some recommendations. It is particularly recommended to increase the number of lawyers in the country through the involvement of young lawyers. As a result of purposeful activities of the leadership of the Bar Association in this area, the number of lawyers in the country has almost doubled and the process continues.”.

Making an opening speech, Mr. Fikrat Mammadov, Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan, Chairman of the Judicial-Legal Council, noted that the lawyer profession has ancient and rich roots in Azerbaijan. Advocacy as an independent legal institution was formed only by national leader Heydar Aliyev after the restoration of Azerbaijan's state independence. It was for the first time that a separate law on advocacy was passed and the legal basis for its development as an independent institution was implemented under the leadership of the Great Leader, who chose the path of building a democratic state for the country.

“Today, advocacy, which plays an important and indispensable role in the legal system, is being transformed into a perfect structure under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev and important steps are being taken to ensure that its activities are up-to-date. Taking into account the great importance of the institution of advocacy, the Order signed by the head of our state last year to support the development of advocacy should be specifically mentioned. The lawyer does not only provide legal assistance to those he represents. It also contributes to the quality of judicial activity and the formation of a unified judicial practice, through its active participation in the implementation of justice.”, - Mr. Fikrat Mammadov said.

Mr. Ramiz Rzayev, President of the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan noted in his speech that as a result of reforms in the development of the advocacy in Azerbaijan in recent years, a significant increase in the number of lawyers has been yielding results. Following independence, Azerbaijan has successfully pursued a policy of state-building, adhering to democratic values. The great leader Heydar Aliyev, referring to modern principles of democratic state building, has ensured the successful implementation of these principles. At present, the process of building a democratic state under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev continues successfully.

“Reforms carried out in recent years in the development of the institution of advocacy in Azerbaijan, the significant increase in the number of lawyers, the strengthening of the material and technical base is already seen. We believe that the legal profession in Azerbaijan will develop from year to year and make a worthy contribution to the protection of human rights and freedoms”, - President of the Supreme Court said.

Mr. Zakir Garalov, Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan stated that in recent years, important work has been carried out in the country to modernize the judicial system and to improve the institution of advocacy. Reforms in all spheres to ensure sustainable progress of our country have contributed to the development of judicial and legal system, and to start a new stage in this area: “The progressive reforms allowed the legal profession to organize its activities in accordance with modern requirements and international standards, and to provide better legal assistance to citizens. Expanding the activities of the Bar Association to provide legal assistance to vulnerable groups of the population, vulnerable families and others who need state care for reliable protection of citizens' rights also supports the implementation of the state's social policy”.

Speaking at the conference, Mr. Anar Bagirov, Chairman of the Bar Association of the Republic of Azerbaijan welcomed the participants and noted that 2019 was remarkable for the Azerbaijani advocacy and that the Bar Association of the Republic of Azerbaijan held a series of events in this regard. He talked about the recent measures taken to develop the legal profession in Azerbaijan, importance of the Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated February 22, 2018 and the Decree of April 03, 2019, shortcomings in this sphere in our country, work done to address and overcome them and to deepen judicial and legal reforms. In this regard, he stated that the current conference plays an important role in the exchange of experience and future cooperation with various countries.

Later, Mr. Metin Feyzioglu, President of Turkish Union of Bar Associations, Mr. Yuriy Pilipenko, President of the Russian Federal Bar, Mr. David Asatiani, Chairman of Georgian Bar Association, Mr. Zhu Zhengfu, Vice-president of All-China Lawyers Association, Mr. Morteza Shahbazinia, Head of the Iranian Bar Association Union, Mr. Viktor Chaichits, Chairman of Belarusian Republican Bar Association, Ms. Lidiya Izovitova, President of Ukrainian National Bar Association, Mr. Alim Ernazarov, Chairman of Chamber of Lawyers of Uzbekistan Republic, Mr. Mindaugas Kukaitis, Vice-President of Lithuanian Bar Association shared their respective countries’ experiences on “Modern challenges in advocacy”.

In the second half of the day, local and foreign guests of the conference took part in a concert at the Azerbaijan State Academic Philharmonic Hall named after Muslim Magomayev and listened to various classical works performed by the Azerbaijan State Symphonic Orchestra.

The orchestra conductor is Fakhraddin Karimov, the soloists are international laureate Ceyla Seyidova and the Honored Artist Nargiz Karimova. The concert included performances by Soltan Hajibeyov's "Caravan", Uzeyir Hajibeyli's "Koroglu" opera, Fikret Amirov's "Saga about Nasimi", Kara Garayev's "Beautiful" and Antonio Vivaldi's "Summer" masterpieces.

After the concert, all the participants took a collective photo in front of the Philharmonic.

At the end of the day, a gala dinner was held in honor of the guests. By speaking at the reception, the Chairman of the Azerbaijani Bar Association thanked the participants for accepting the invitation. In addition, the heads of delegations from different countries made speeches and presented gifts to the Azerbaijani Bar Association on behalf of the countries they represented.

In addition, the Gabala-Sheki tour was organized for guests visiting our country on October 5-6. Guests visited the Sheki Khan Palace, Karvansaray in Sheki, Tufandag rope line, Savalan wine factory and the Chukur Gabala Archaeological Center in Gabala. They visited the modern buildings of Sheki Court Complex and Gabala District Court. The guests expressed their satisfaction with the facilities in the courtrooms, rooms for lawyers and the waiting rooms.

It should be noted that, within the anniversary events “The 1st Southern Caucasus Lawyers International Football Tournament” is being held from October 3-6, jointly organized by Azerbaijani Bar Association and Georgian Bar Association.

On October the 2nd, the opening ceremony of the tournament was held at the Baku Business Center with the participation of the management of the Azerbaijani Bar Association, as well as the Organizing Committee of the tournament and the teams participating in the tournament. Then the draw of the tournament was held, groups the teams were located and games to be played were determined.

The tournament, which was held from October 3-6, was attended by 16 football teams from 10 countries. Group stage matches were held October 3-4 and play-off matches were held on October 4 and 6.
In the final match of the tournament, two teams of Azerbaijani Bar Associations met, and the Azerbaijani Bar Association team – 1 won the tournament – 5:1. The team of Kazakhstani lawyers took third place.

On October the 6th the closing-ceremony and awarding ceremony of the tournament took held.