Sheki Regional Advocacy Bureau opened - PHOTO

In order to ensure the needs and access of citizens to high quality legal aid, it was instructed to establish regional advocacy bodies in Ganja, Lankaran, Sumgayit, Sheki and Shirvan by the Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev dated February 22, 2018 "On additional measures to develop legal practice in the Republic of Azerbaijan", which made an important contribution to the development of advocacy in our country.

According to e-huquq.az, in connection with the implementation of the order, non-residential areas were provided for Sumgayit, Ganja, Shirvan and Sheki regional law offices, and land was allocated for the construction of a building in Lankaran.

At present, preparations are underway to repair the allocated building in Ganja, and in Lankaran to begin construction of the relevant building on the land, and the allocated buildings in other cities have been fully commissioned.

The current non-residential area of the Sheki Regional Advocacy Bureau located at 139 A, MA Rasulzadeh Avenue, Sheki city was given to the use of the Bar Association of the Republic of Azerbaijan free of charge by the Order of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated September 6, 2018.

It should be noted that due to the absence of a former law office building in Sheki, lawyers worked in non-residential areas they rented in separate locations.

The non-residential area allocated in accordance with the order was repaired by the Presidium of the Bar Association in accordance with modern requirements, provided with the necessary furniture and equipment, and landscaping work was carried out in order to provide high quality legal aid to citizens and ensure citizen satisfaction.

At the same time, the Sheki Regional Advocacy Bureau was established and in February 2020 the non-residential area was put into use by lawyers. Later, due to the implementation of a special quarantine regime in connection with the "Coronavirus (COVID-19)” pandemic in our country, it was impossible to officially open the bureau.

At present, the Sheki Regional Advocacy Bureau has a coordinating function for 47 lawyers and 19 individual lawyers (66 lawyers in total) operating in 10 advocacy bureaus located in 14 districts under the jurisdiction of the Sheki Court of Appeal.

In strict compliance with the existing quarantine requirements, on November 26, 2021, the grand opening of the Sheki Regional Advocacy was held. The opening ceremony was attended by the leadership of the Bar Association, Sheki Mayor Elkhan Usubov, Chairman of the Sheki Court of Appeal Nuru Guliyev, Chief of the Sheki Regional Office of the Ministry of Justice Abdulla Yusifov, Sheki District Prosecutor Mehman Khankishiyev and others.

The opening ribbon was cut by the Chairman of the Board Anar Bagirov and the Head of Sheki City Executive Power Elkhan Usubov. Then the head of the Bureau Khayal Ibrahimov informed about the work done, the necessary conditions were created for the lawyers to work in the bureau, a confidential meeting room was allocated, as well as the bureau was equipped with modern computers and other equipment.

After the opening ceremony, lawyers working in the jurisdiction of the Sheki Court of Appeal made a visit to the monument of the National Leader Haydar Aliyev, laid down a bunch of flowers, and remembered the memory of the National Leader with deep respect.

An extensive regional meeting was held by the participation of the leadership of the Bar Association, the chairman of the Sheki Court of Appeal Nuru Guliyev and the head of the Sheki Regional Office of the Ministry of Justice Abdulla Yusifov, lawyers operating in several districts and cities under the jurisdiction of the Sheki Court of Appeal, as well as the jurisdiction of the Ganja Court of Appeal in the administrative building of the Sheki Judicial Complex.

December 28 - At the meeting on the eve of the "Lawyer's Day", the attention and care shown to the Azerbaijani advocacy by the founder of the modern judicial system of the country, national leader Heydar Aliyev and the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the work done to develop advocacy, upcoming tasks , interaction with courts and law enforcement agencies, etc. Opinions were expressed on the issues and discussions were held on future prospects.

Opening the meeting, Chairman Anar Bagirov said that the Order of the President "On additional measures to develop legal practice in the Republic of Azerbaijan" signed on February 22, 2018, gave an important stimulus to the development of advocacy in our country.

Proceedings of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan "On deepening reforms in the judicial system" dated April 3, 2019, the work done to prevent non-procedural relations between judges, other participants and lawyers and serious measures planned in this area in the future. He also informed the conference participants about the access of citizens to quality legal assistance arising from the decree and the work to be done in this area for citizen satisfaction.

In his speech, Anar Bagirov also touched upon the recent changes in the legislation, the work done on the transition to an electronic judicial system, as well as the digitalization of advocacy, and informed the conference participants about the work done and to be done in this area.

Then the chairman of the Sheki Court of Appeal Nuru Guliyev spoke about the recent work done in the courts, the role of lawyers in justice, the relationship between lawyers and judges.

Abdulla Yusifov, Head of the Sheki Regional Office of the Ministry of Justice, spoke about the work done in the justice authorities in the regions, the reforms carried out and the role of lawyers in this area. Nuru Guliyev and Abdulla Yusifov have praised the development of advocacy in the country.

Shahmar Mammadov, Director of the Legal Aid and Training Center ,Chairman of the Lawyers Disciplinary Commission made a presentation on the rules of ethical standards of lawyers, improving their professional training and legal aid at public expense. TThe presentation provided information on the shortcomings in the activities of lawyers and their prevention, continuous training of lawyers, and the conduct of this training in electronic form. In addition, detailed information was provided on the work done on legal aid at public expense, including the application of modern ICT in this area, centralized accounting and forecasting for the current and next year.

At the end, the questions of the lawyers were answered and the relevant awards were presented to the lawyers who distinguished themselves in the past.