Azerbaijani activists call for return of representation practice in courts

The elimination of the practice of citizens' representation in courts of Azerbaijan has limited people's access to reliable legal support and excluded the lawyers who are not members of the Bar Association from participation in trials, experts from the Institute for Democratic Initiatives (IDI) have noted. This opinion was supported by Azerbaijani activists, who called for the return of the institution of representation.

An IDI's expert group has prepared a study "On the liquidation of the institution of citizens' representation and consequences thereof".

Yalchin Imanov, an IDI expert, has explained that "representatives provided citizens with legal advice, helped in drawing up documents and represented citizens in courts and other state bodies."

Mr Imanov believes that another problem is "the transformation of the Bar into an appendage of the law enforcement system."

The cancellation of the institution of representation has created great problems for human rights protection, said Elshan Gasanov, the head of the Centre for Monitoring Political Prisoners.

"We are approached by people with violated rights, mainly low-income families. They have no money to hire lawyers. Earlier, we could defend such persons, but now judges, benefiting from the pandemic, do not even let us into courtrooms," Mr Gasanov has explained.