89 acquittals on criminal proceedings issued in Azerbaijan in 2018

By Trend

Eighty-nine acquittals on criminal proceedings were issued in Azerbaijan in 2018, Assistant to Azerbaijani First Vice-President Gunduz Karimov said, Trend reports.

Karimov made the remarks at the conference "Lawyer's view on judicial and legal reforms" in Baku on May 31.

He stressed that this figure is less than one percent of the total number of criminal cases. "This may be connected with the work of the public prosecution, resistance of lawyers, passivity of the courts and other unknown reasons,” Karimov added.

“We think that lawyers must make more efforts so that the defense can get a balanced result,” he said. “As is known, the issue of accessibility of justice has been stressed in the decree signed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in connection with judicial and legal reforms."

“There are not many lawyers in Azerbaijan,” Karimov said.

“The number of lawyers has grown from 800 people to 1,500 people over the past year and a half,” he added. “It is good, but the restrictions in the legislation, in particular those related to the institution of representation, have created obstacles for the people of certain categories, especially those who live outside Baku, to apply to the courts. According to the available information, there are districts in which there is only one lawyer.”

Karimov added that it is necessary to simplify the rules for admission to the bar and the professional test exams in Azerbaijan.