International conference on “Application of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms on national level and the role of national judges” was held in Baku.

International conference on “Application of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms on national level and the role of national judges”  was held in Baku.

The international conference on “Application of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms on national level and the role of national judges” co-organized by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Council of Europe took place at Four Seasons Hotel Baku on October 24, 2014.

The President and judges of the European Court of Human Rights, chairmen and judges of the constitutional courts, supreme courts and supreme administrative courts of the member states of the Council of Europe and other countries, officials of the Council of Europe, the Secretary of the Committee of Ministers and other foreign representatives, the Chairman of the  Constitutional Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan F.Abdullayev, the Minister of Justice, Chairman of the Judicial-Legal Council F.Mammadov, First Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly Z.Asgarov, General Prosecutor of the Republic of Azerbaijan  Z.Garalov, Head of the Department on work with law-enforcement bodies of Administration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan F.Alasgarov and other officials have participated at the conference. Judges of the appellate and first instance courts of the Republic of Azerbaijan, prosecutors and justice workers, barristers and scientists were also among the participants.

At the opening ceremony the President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ramiz Rzayev, the President of the European Court of Human Rights Dean Spielmann, the Head of the Department on work with law-enforcement bodies of Administration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan F.Alasgarov welcomed the participants and wished them good luck in their work during the conference.

         The President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ramiz Rzayev mentioned that pure intention of the Azerbaijani people is to establish a democratic legal state which ensures the rule of law and the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms and talked about direct application of the European Convention on Human Rights and case-law of the European Court of Human Rights.

         Ramiz Rzayev noted that the European Convention on Human Rights has a special place in the system of international agreements in the Republic of Azerbaijan and according to the Constitution these agreements are integral part of the national legislation, at the same time, being the factor for the integration of the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights with our country’s legal and judicial culture.

         He noted that in the recent ten years new transparent election system has been operating in Azerbaijan, and during this period candidates who are able to study in-depth the Convention and the case-law of the Court and make relevant assessments have been trained, which in its turn led to the successful election of the judge.

         Ramiz Rzayev talked about the role of the Supreme Court in ensuring the protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms, mentioned that the Supreme Court is an example for courts in the application of the Convention; the Supreme Court is the final instance for domestic remedies and it carries out justice based on its own discretion and the Convention; it reviews the judgments of the national courts after judgments are delivered by the Court and tries to prevent repetition of the mistakes; for this purpose it asks judges to study in-depth the judgments of the Court.

         The President of the European Court of Human Rights Dean Spielmann stated in his speech that State Parties to the Convention must ensure the rights laid down in the Convention. Also, national courts should refer to the judgments of the Court, as well as, to their own experience.

         Dean Spielmann noted that it is important to have a broad knowledge of the case-law of the Court. The dialogue between national judges and judges of the Court should be expanded, which is the aim of the Protocol No.16.

         The Head of the Department on work with law-enforcement bodies of Administration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Fuad Alasgarov stated that we support the new approaches towards increasing the effectiveness of the interaction with the Court and the prevalence of the values of the Convention.

         Effective measures are taken in different directions in Azerbaijan for the fulfillment of the provisions of the Convention. These include improvements to the legislation, trainings for the state officials and judges, modernization of the infrastructure of the court system, raising awareness among people, use of various social innovations and so on. Undoubtedly, courts play the main role in ensuring human rights and fundamental freedoms by deciding civil, administrative and criminal cases independently, objectively and impartially.

         The special role of the Supreme Court in the application of the Convention was noted. Majority of the court decisions are adopted taking into account the case-law of the Court and the requirements of the Convention.

         Interesting speeches and discussions were made during the first session which covered “preventive measures” and “execution of the court decisions”.

         The first part of the session included speeches by the President of the Supreme Court of Turkey Ali Alkan on “The status of Convention in national legislation”, the judge of the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan V.Ibayev on “The role of the supreme courts of the state parties of the European Council”, Polish judge, the member of the Advising Committee of the Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals Program (HELP) G.Boronowski on “The role of education for legal professionals: advanced practices about their impact on preventing law infringements”. The second part of the session included speeches by the Deputy Director of the Department for execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights F.Sundberg on “Prevention of violations and repeated violations, renewal of domestic proceedings and restoration of rights by other means”, the Chairman of the State Council Board of France I.Robino on “Amendments to the domestic case-law and court decisions considering the features of the national judicial system: limitations to the adaptation in national legislation by changing the judicial practice” and the Head of the Sector of the Department on work with law-enforcement bodies of Administration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan C.Asgarov on “The execution of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights: individual and general measures”.

         The conference continued its work on October 25, 2014.