On 9 June 2023 the Parliament of Azerbaijan amended the Law on Judicial-Legal Council (JLC) regarding its composition. In respect of each case examined under the Mammadli group, the European Court found a violation of Article 18 taken in conjunction with Article 5 of the Convention, revealing a pattern of arbitrary arrest and detention of government critics, civil society activists and human-rights defenders through retaliatory prosecutions and misuse of criminal law in defiance of the rule of law. Consequently, the Committee has repeatedly invited the authorities to reinforce the capacity of the judiciary to withstand external pressures and operate independently and within the law, in particular, by bringing the composition and operation of the Judicial Legal Council into line with the relevant recommendations of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO).
With these new amendments, the composition of the JLC no longer includes a representative appointed by the President of Azerbaijan, the Minister of Justice and the Chairman of the Supreme Court are no longer its ex officio members, and its chairman can only be elected from amongst its judge members. The number of judges in the JLC has been increased and now nine of the 15 members of the JLC are elected by the Conference of Judges and one member is appointed by the Constitutional Court.
At its recent 1475th meeting (September 2023) (DH), the Committee welcomed the recent amendments which appear to respond to its calls in this group and the GRECO recommendations regarding the composition of the JLC.
