The main role of the Ministry of Justice in our society during the Patriotic War

In 1918, November 22, the day of the adoption of the Statute of the Ministry of Justice of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, was established as “ The Day of Judicial Employees”, as a manifestation of the great attention and care shown by our national leader Heydar Aliyev to the field of justice. Judicial workers celebrate this holiday every year with a deep sense of gratitude to our Great Leader who has given us this day.

In the days of the Patriotic War, justice workers did not spare their efforts. Immediately after the declaration of martial law, the ministry switched to a strengthened work regime, closely coordinating the activities with other law enforcement agencies and relevant organizations, organizing prompt information on emergency situations, and taking urgent measures for the safe operation and protection of penitentiary institutions and information resources. Also, the doctors of the medical service of the ministry were sent to the war zone, about 100 employees of the justice and court bodies went to military service, including as volunteers, and showed a high example of patriotism. Unfortunately, among our employees who participated in the battles, there are also those who were wounded and heroically martyred. The Ministry is concerned with the concerns of each of them and their family members and provides comprehensive support.

In memory of Ruhin Khalilov, an employee of the executive department of the ministry who volunteered for the Patriotic War and was martyred, special corners were created in the Museum of Judicial History, in the local institutions where he previously worked, and a museum was organized in his office. The family and young children of the martyred justice worker are surrounded by our care, his wife was accepted to work in the judicial authorities. From the first days of the war, judicial workers and judges voluntarily donated more than 4.5 million manats to support our army, our wounded and the families of martyrs, including on the eve of the professional holiday, to the "YASHAT" and Karabakh Revival funds, and hundreds of employees participated in blood donation campaigns. During the war, the ministry also organized assistance for the residents of the front-line regions, taking special care of their concerns, holding receptions in video format, taking measures to immediately resolve the raised issues.

The Ministry also sent a total of 450 letters to the Ministries of Justice of about 80 countries, foreign partners and influential international organizations, meetings were organized with the ambassadors of foreign countries, the occupation of our territories, Armenian vandalism, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and genocide of Azerbaijanis were emphasized. , the right position of our people has been brought to attention. At the conference of the justice ministers of the Council of Europe, the details of the Armenians' crimes against humanity and war crimes were brought to the attention of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the heads of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights and other specialized institutions, as well as the justice commissioner of the European Union and the justice ministers of all member states. On the eve of the first anniversary of the Victory Day, the adoption of the Decision "On the announcement of amnesty on the occasion of November 8 - Victory Day" by the Milli Majlis at the initiative of our head of state added joy to the victory of our people. This act of amnesty, which was adopted as a continuation of the humanist policy founded by our National Leader in our country, differs from all other such acts due to the wide scope of its application.

The Ministry of Justice has carried out purposeful activities in order to bring the war crimes against our country to the attention of the world community, to encourage Armenia to be held accountable at the international level, "Karabakh is Azerbaijan!" in Azerbaijani, English and Russian languages. an electronic information platform was created and constantly enriched and integrated into various websites. Thousands of users have benefited from this platform. The field of justice and the court is also developing with the application of modern information technologies, progressive reforms are being carried out, and innovative solutions are widely used to ensure access to justice in pandemic conditions.

Currently, the Ministry of Justice, which is an active participant in the "Electronic Government" system, provides up to 35 different electronic services to citizens. In the last 5 years, the number of people using them has exceeded 15 million. Through the single electronic database of Legal Acts maintained by the Ministry and containing tens of thousands of normative documents, everyone can obtain legal acts in an instant mode free of charge. This year alone, the number of uses of that electronic resource exceeded 4 million. At the same time, "Electronic notary" has opened wide opportunities for introducing innovations. Also, the "Mobile Notary" application was created as a new stage of digitization. Its users have the opportunity to formalize various notarial actions, including from abroad, through video communication without going to the notary office. This new system already has more than two hundred thousand users.

The integration of the electronic directors of the Court and the other tattoo organs was also added to the satisfaction of the citizen. For example, it is always time to apply to obtain various high school diplomas from the electronic bases of the ministry, which includes various information, to the corporate and social defense bodies. It is necessary to be a special cause of notary, which is shown in the "DOST" centers, which have great social responsibility. Through the electronic notarial cabinets created here, citizens can immediately realize their notarial works with a notary. Comparing the business environment, analogy services has also been created on banks. Let me also mention that the notaries who joined the calls of the head of state and the first lady to give high attention and care to the families of the martyrs and the majority of them are private, show a high civic position and social responsibility and serve the families of the martyrs at their own expense.

Along with this, the ministry is preparing to increase the efficiency of the municipality's activity, to ensure the citizenship of the citizens. By making use of the possibilities of the portal, the quality of the methodological assistance and the supervision of their activities can be increased. For the purpose of flexible execution of court decisions on tax, insurance, alimony and other debts, payments are directed directly to bank accounts and payments are made online. Due to the integration of the "Electronic execution" information system into the databases of various bodies, which is important in improving the activity, it became possible to obtain necessary documents, including information about debtors, in real time. As a result of this, in the current year, the number of executed cases increased by 20 percent, more than 420 million manats were paid to individuals and legal entities.

At the same time, the use of electronic control devices (electronic bracelets) for effective implementation of alternative punishments to deprivation of liberty has been effective. Currently, the scope of this application has been expanded and more than 4,000 prisoners wear electronic bracelets. They are monitored online 24 hours a day by the Electronic Monitoring Center. Application of modern information and communication technologies is also important in increasing the efficiency of justice, ensuring transparency in activities and improving access to court. The Decree of the President of Azerbaijan "On Deepening Reforms in the Court-Legal System" dated April 3, 2019 was the "road map" of these reforms. The "Electronic court" information system, which was created under the order of the head of state, covers the entire process from the moment of the right to appeal to the court to the completion of the execution of the court decision. It ensures electronic document circulation, audio and video recording of court proceedings, conducting video conferences, and reduces the time of obtaining documents many times.

Currently, the electronic court system is applied in 77 out of 117 courts operating in the country, in other words, in two thirds, and it is planned to cover all courts in the coming year. The changes made to the legislation, including those that came into force last month, have created conditions for the improvement of court activities, including the elimination of procrastination, flexible and timely consideration of cases. Also, these changes further expanded the application of the "Electronic court" information system by the courts. Creating the possibility of conducting court proceedings through a video conference communication system, being an additional guarantee of transparency, has become especially important in the context of the pandemic. At the same time, an online calculator that allows accurate and automatic calculation of fees due to the differential determination of court fees, as well as a special methodical tool, was developed and placed on the courts' unified portal, on the electronic resources of the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court. At the same time, as an additional guarantee of transparency, the distribution of cases among judges is carried out through the electronic system and its constant monitoring is carried out. The widespread use of the "Mobile Court" application and the establishment of the "Hotline" at the Judicial-Legal Council have also served to satisfy court users.

At present, we face important challenges regarding the application of artificial intelligence in judicial activity, the role of information technologies in judicial management is increasing. The system developed in this regard allows to compile various analytical reports on the basis of electronic statistics, evaluate the activity of courts and judges, and determine the productivity of their work. Our experience in this field has attracted international interest and has been awarded a special award. One of the most important aspects of people's trust in the judiciary is transparency in the selection process of judges. At present, the documents of candidates for the judiciary are accepted continuously and electronically, the test is conducted via a personal computer, and the results are announced immediately. Civil society representatives and mass media are invited to all stages of the selection process.

In order to ensure transparency in judicial activity, all court decisions are published electronically, and at this time they are anonymized with a special program to protect privacy. The creation of an electronic search system for those decisions increases everyone's awareness of judicial practice and plays an important role in identifying systemic defects. As a result of such competitions held in the last two years with the participation of up to 900 people, 44 people successfully completed all exams, as well as long-term training and internship in courts, and were appointed to various positions of judges in the current year. Currently, about 220 candidates are in different stages of the competition. Taking into account the importance of judicial infrastructure in ensuring transparency in judicial activity and improving accessibility, according to the instructions of the head of state, a new building equipped with the most advanced ICT, in other words, "hi-tech" courts, was built for 35 courts in the capital and regions. These buildings, built at the expense of the World Bank and the state budget, are completely modern from a conceptual point of view, and all kinds of favorable conditions are created for the convenience of citizens, and non-procedural relations with judges are prevented.

This year alone, the Surakhani District Court of Baku city, as well as the Sumgayit and Masalli court complexes were put into use. The head of the state, who attaches great importance to the judicial power, personally inaugurated many court buildings and complexes, got acquainted with the work done on the spot, and gave necessary instructions. The political will shown by the President of Azerbaijan in the implementation of progressive judicial and judicial reforms, the exceptional importance and support he gives to the reforms mobilizes each of us to fulfill our duties with great responsibility and honor. Judiciary workers, who celebrate their professional holidays with great pride as representatives of the victorious nation, feel infinite gratitude and respect to the President for making us experience the historic Victory Days, and are honored to congratulate our Victorious Commander-in-Chief on the occasion of his upcoming anniversary. We are absolutely sure that the "Iron Fist" brought down on the enemy will bring new great victories to our country for the sake of the prosperous future of our people, and under the leadership of our head of state Ilham Aliyev, our country will develop and strengthen day by day.

Rzazadeh Khanim

Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan Republic State Population Registry Service Technical Servise department head