"Raising the legal fee is to be stimulus for lawyers"

"I consider that it is recommended to raise the legal fees covered by the state, it is in line with the economic situation, and this step would be stimulus for lawyers."

This statement made by the chairman of the Azerbaijani Bar Association Mr Anar Bagirov, e-huquq.az reports.

He suggested to raise the legal fees covered by the state,in the light of the current economic situation.

The chairman noted that as a result of reforms in the field of advocacy in recent years, significant progress has been made, and this is reflected in the provision of legal aid at public expense.
"As it is known, in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated April 3, 2019" On deepening of the Reforms in the Judicial - legal system ", in order to provide centralized accounting and right forecasting, from 2020 the funds allocated for legal aid at the expense of the state paid directly by the Bar Association. In this regard, we made a very active mechanism in the Board. At the same time, the finance department of the Legal Aid and Training Center deals with these issues. All decisions are implemented in a time there. We believe that it has removed the dissatisfaction of lawyers in this field over the years. That is, some unpleasant situations, bureaucratic obstacles, procrastination and illegal actions have been removed. Lawyers also support the work done in this direction. I think that a lawyer should get the money to be paid for his work not from another institution, but from the Bar Association of which he is a member”.

A. Bagirov reminded that the information on how much money was spent on legal aid covered by the state over the past years, which bureaus and how many decisions were implemented was not summarized.

By 2020, all the information is available, which is another important indicator of transparency. At present, this information is being analyzed, and this year serious measures will be taken to make this process more transparent and just. Our preliminary analysis suggests that some government agencies send elected appointments to law firms. We consider this experience wrong and are determined to change it. Discrimination and abuse of cases, subjective approach is absolutely unacceptable. Work is also underway on electronic destination software.

It was very difficult to collect information on legal aid provided by appointment. However, thanks to the accounting work carried out in accordance with the Presidential Decree, we were able to make a forecast in this regard. Let me note that the operating costs of this case are also paid by the board. That is, the board pays the salaries and expenses of the employees who carry out all this work at its own expense, and the state does not pay us these funds. However, this is a very big issue. Thus, operating costs were saved, significant funds were not used and remained in the state budget. I think that, it is a very serious success. This is a good example of transparency, proper accounting, as well as financial discipline”, - he said.

The chairman of the board noted that compared to last years, there has been a significant increase in the amount of money paid to lawyers for legal aid provided at public expense: “As you know, in the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 31 of February 1, 2001 " About the size of the amounts which are subject to payment to defenders, translators, specialists and experts", the fee for legal aid in the cases provided Codes of penal procedure of the Azerbaijan Republic to establish in the amount of 6 manats for each working hour. For many years, this amount was less. Until May 2018, it was about 2 manat. In accordance with the Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated February 22, 2018 "On additional measures for the development of advocacy in the Republic of Azerbaijan", the Cabinet of Ministers was instructed to increase this amount. Thus, from May 2018, this amount was increased 3 times and amounted to 6 manat. Of course, this was a great success for us. This amount was higher than in some neighbor countries.
Bagirov stressed the need to raise this amount in the light of the current economic situation.
According to him, to raise legal aid covered by the state will be to all lawyers’ heart's content and will give them additional stimulus.

“Compared to 2018, the minimum average monthly salary has been increased in the country. Some changes have also been made to increase the salaries of civil servants. But the economy is constantly changing, costs have been rising. Some price changes during this period also affected the costs of lawyers. Also, taking into account the complexity of judicial proceedings, the time and costs of lawyers (transport, communications, clerical work, etc.), this increase is justified. As you know, Article 6 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms also provides for free legal aid to low-income criminals, and some European Court rulings emphasize the importance of economically reasonable remuneration for such legal aid has been noted. That is, economic reality must be taken into account when determining the amount of funds. I think that these funds can be increased by 50 percent in the country. In my opinion, this is advisable and reasonable”, - he added.

At the end, A. Bagirov noted that in any case, the main issue for the Bar Association is the high quality and professionalism of legal aid.