A Pro Bono Legal Assistance to Citizens Campaign in Shamkir Province

Upon the initiative of the Chair of the Milli Majlis and Member of Parliament for the Shamkir Town Constituency No 98 Sahiba Gafarova, a campaign was held in the Shamkir Province on 5 March wherein the Bar Collegium of the Azerbaijan Republic provided the citizens who are dwellers of that province with pro bono legal assistance.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova who spoke at the opening of the event followed her greetings to its participants up with a reference to the reforms implemented on a broad scale under the guidance of President Ilham Aliyev and the successful outcomes of those reforms. The socio-economic development strategy being carried into life in our country under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev has made it possible to secure outstanding successes in all the walks of life. The purposeful action has made certain that our country is progressing dynamically; there is a determined work in process on improvement of the citizens’ social protection and welfare. Such growth tendencies are evident up country as well. A number of issues raised in constituents’ appeals previously had been resolved already, Mrs Gafarova was saying.

It was further remarked that bringing electors’ concerns up with state authorities and assisting in their favourable settlement made one of the topmost duties of the Members of Parliament. Sahiba Gafarova mentioned the issues raised in constituent appeals in the past period and resolved by the relevant state agencies on the basis of her pertaining applications. Also, Madame Speaker made the event participants aware of the social and humanitarian projects fulfilled upon the instance of the Chair of the Milli Majlis.

Moving on to today’s arrangement, Sahiba Gafarova informed the audience of it. She said that Azerbaijan as a modern, democratic and legal state had declared the provision of efficient protection of the fundamental rights and liberties its supreme priority. The relevant reforms afoot with the esteemed President Ilham Aliyev in the lead have ensured modernisation and evolution of the national legal system. Still, as can be seen from consideration of certain complications referenced in electors’ applications, such complications and problems arise because the citizens are not always in possession of the necessary information about the areas they refer to. Such a tendency is especially obvious in the applications about legal matters. So, the purpose of the legal assistance events aimed at constituents is specifically to facilitate resolution of such issues, according to the Chair of the Milli Majlis.

Chairman of the Presidium of the Bar Collegium Anar Baghirov spoke next to underscore the significance of such campaigns as the one about to begin today and thanked the Chair of the Milli Majlis for having arranged it.

The work done subject to the decree of President Ilham Aliyev ‘On Certain Measures to Promote the Advance of the Bar Practice in the Azerbaijan Republic’, dated 22 February 2018, has proven a tremendous momentum for the evolution of the legal profession in our country, according to Mr Baghirov. He also recalled the several steps taken in accordance with the said presidential decree to provide low-income families with pro bono legal assistance and mentioned the active involvement of the Collegium members in the pro bono undertakings. At today’s event, too, the experienced jurists of the Collegium will answer the constituents’ questions and supply them with legal assistance, Mr Baghirov concluded.

Incidentally, the MPs Nizami Safarov, Kamran Bayramov and Nurlan Hasanov also took part in the event in the course of which the members of the Bar Collegium of the Azerbaijan Republic heard each constituent separately and provided him/her with the needed legal assistance.