IDPs submitted over 800 complaints to the European Court against Armenia

How many appeals have the European Court received from Azerbaijan?

Azerbaijan has submitted over 100 complaints to the European Court. Great majority of these complaints were rejected at the preliminary review. The Court is going to send notification to the government related to nearly 200 complaints. The Azerbaijani government received communication on 27 complaints. As a rule, the court appoints a reporting judge to consider the received complaint. And the court sends a notification to the government to clarify some questions. It asks the responsible government whether there is an opportunity to sign an agreement of reconciliation with the complainant. The experience shows that there is much likelihood the communicated complaints contain more cases on human rights violation. Decision has been made on seven of 27 communicated complaints, and none of them contained cases on human rights violation.

What kind of damages do the complaints demand from the Government?

Different damages are demanded in different countries related to the violation of the rights protected under the European Convention on Human Rights and Freedoms. As Azerbaijan is not in the list of with 'old democracy' countries, the demanded damages are not so high. Some complaints are sent by persons engaged in political activity in Azerbaijan. The damages they demand from the Government are measured by 100 million euros. Common citizens claim reasonable damages from the Government. They want their violated rights to be restored. But most politicians aim at getting money from the Azerbaijani government by appealing to the European Court.

What articles of the Convention are claimed to be violated in the appeals sent to the European Court from Azerbaijan?

All of the complaints claim that the 6th article of the Convention (right to a fair court) is violated. It is natural. According to the 35th article of the Convention, an individual can appeal to the European Court after having appealed to all court instances of his country. Most complainants claim that their rights are violated during trial hearings. Thus, not both sides can be satisfied with the court decision. Therefore, all complaints claim that the 6th article has been violated. However, during the communication this claim is not made often. All of the communications the court sent to the Azerbaijani government are related to rights violations claimed to before 15 April, 2003 (after the Convention came to force) till 2003. We have not received any communications related to violations after 2003.

As you mentioned, most of the appeals sent by Azerbaijan are rejected. What is the reason for that?

The European Court said in one of the decisions against Azerbaijan that all the local courts should be appealed before appealing to the European Court. that is the main reason why mot of the complaints are rejected. Thus, in most cases citizens complain to the European Court directly of the decisions of the court of first instance and court of appeal without appealing to the Supreme Court. In such cases, the complaints are rejected. Another reason is that the complaints do not show what rights protected under the Convention have been violated. If an individual is dissatisfied with the court decision it does not mean his right has been violated. The violation of the 6th article means violation of procedural rights.

An individual should precisely show what rights of the Convention have been violated. The European Court will reject a common complaint.

The European Court delays considering the complaints for years. The Court is very busy. The 14th protocol has been adopted to carry our reforms. What amendments are expected to be made to the 14th protocol?

A reporting judge is appointed to review a complaint received by the Court. After that procedure, the Committee composed of five judges reconsiders the complaint and decides whether or not it will be communicated. Another innovation is that the complainant should substantiate that he suffered great damages. If the damages are not great, the European court might reject the complaint. The third innovation is related to the improvement of controlling mechanism on implementation of the Court's decisions. If a responsible government refuses to comply with the Court's decision, the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers can re-appeal to the European Court about it.

Another innovation is about the term of office of judges. The European court's judge is elected for nine years term. This protocol has not came to force as Russia, Turkey, Poland and Belgium have not ratified it yet.

When the European Court will consider the appeals submitted from Azerbaijan?

The number of appeals sent from Azerbaijan increases and decreases sometimes. In 2002, The Court received 300 appeals and more appeals in 2003. However, this number decreased in 2004-2005. The European Court has passed a preliminary decision on Azerbaijan. This is related to Faina Kungrova's complaint. Her complaint was rejected. Kungrova claimed that the 3rd, 5th and 6th articles of the Convention as well as freedom of expression and avoiding discrimination have been violated. The European Court decided to consider the complaint on the 5th article. But later on the plaintiff withdrew her complaint due to some reasons we do not know. So, the Court rejected it. The Court is expected to pass a decision on Azerbaijan late this year or early next year.

Some human rights defendants claim that a plaintiff should appeal to Constitutional Court before the European Court.

The European Court said in its decision on Azerbaijan that the plenum of the Supreme Court is not an absolute instance. It means a plaintiff can appeal to the European Court after the decision of the Supreme Court. It concerns the Constitutional Court as well. If the Supreme Court plenum and Constitutional Court review the appeal, the European Court may reject it.

Have the European Court received any complaints from Armenians once lived in Azerbaijan and by Azerbaijanis once lived in Armenia?

Azerbaijani refugees from Armenia can appeal to the European Court in line with the 35th article of the European Convention. They are to appeal to interior courts of Armenia. If Armenian courts refuse to meet their claims, the plaintiffs can appeal to the European Court. These procedures concern Armenians moved from Azerbaijan. As coming to Azerbaijan's complaining to the European Court of Armenia, all the ways to remove Armenia's aggression are being investigated, possible options are being analyzed. There is not a concrete result yet. Azerbaijanis, who have become internally displaced persons as a result of Armenian aggression, have submitted over 800 complaints to the European Court against the Armenian government. The Armenians, who moved from Azerbaijan, have also attempted to complain to the Court of the Azerbaijani government. However, these complaints can be considered if the 35th Article of the Convention is violated.

What can you say about the complaints on which the Court is in correspondence with the Azerbaijani government?

There are complaints submitted by former politicians. One of the first complaints was made by Alikram Hummatov. The European Court passed a relevant decision on the possibility of considering the complaint. Most of the violations claimed by Hummatov were rejected. Thus, he claims that commuting of death sentence to life-term imprisonment is a right violation. But this does not violate the Convention's articles, there is no human rights violation here. I hope local courts will follow this decision of the European Court. The European Court will consider Alikram Hummatov's complaint on the violation of the 3rd and 6th articles of the Convention. There is much likelihood the Court will pass a relevant decision next year. We hope the Azerbaijani government will win this case. The European Court will also review Fahmin Hajiyev's complaint of the Azerbaijani government. Hajiyev demands millions of euros from the government claiming the 6th article of the Convention is violated.

Are there any problems to the application of the European Court's precedence rule by Azerbaijani courts? Will it help to remove shortfalls in the activity of the courts?

This rule will first of all raise law culture in the society, will give impetus to development of juridical system in line with European standards. For this purpose,the application of the law on "Modernizing juridical system of the Republic of Azerbaijan and making amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Azerbaijan" under President Ilham Aliyev's January 19, 2006 decree recommends following European Court's precedence rule by the courts. The local courts have applied the European Court's precedence rule recently. If some judges follow this rule, the articles of the European Convention will be obeyed, and the number of complaints on human rights violation will decrease.