Delegation of Azerbaijan Lawyers Confederation will take part at the Annual Congress of the International Bar Association in Madrid
According to the Secretary General of Azerbaijan Lawyers Confederation (ALC) Nadir Adilov, ALC had applied for the association membership at the International Bar Association (IBA) with the headquarters in London in March 2009. As its required by membership procedures, in the first the application considered by the Mandate Committee of the IBA in Paris in May 2009. At the meeting the decision had been adopted on positive consideration of the application of ALC and it was recommended to the IBA Council to accept ALC as an association member in Annual Congress in Madrid to be conducted in October 5-10, 2009.
The Chairman of ALC, Member of Parliament, Head of the Legal Policy and State Building Committee of the Parliament of Azerbaijan Ali Huseynov will participate at the Annual Congress of IBA. Secretary General of the ALC Nadir Adilov as well as the Chairman of the Eurasian Lawyers Association, Secretary on International Relations of ALC Ramil Iskandarov will accompany Ali Huseynov.
During the period of the Congrees Ali Huseynov will have meeting with the President of IBA Mark Ellis.
According to Nadir Adilov, International Bar Association is uniting around 195 association members consisting from the national bar associations and law societies as well as 30000 individual members. The main aim of the IBA is to provide assistance to the global legal community for sharing experiences.
EFFECTIVENESS OF GOVERNMENT HOTLINES
Monitoring of Efforts to Increase Transparency in Government Agencies in Azerbaijan
The Government of Azerbaijan is creating more opportunities for civil society organizations (CSOs) to become
involved in the monitoring of efforts to combat corruption. The National Strategy and Action Plan for 2007-2011
outline the areas open to contributions from non-governmental organizations. In this framework an initiative to
monitor the existence and effectiveness of government hotlines for public inquiries and complaints was completed in June by a Coalition of four CSOs. The presentation of the Coalition’s findings marks the conclusion of the first part of the project for the Alternative Monitoring of the Implementation of the National Strategy and Action Plan for Combating Corruption. The results cover a six-month period and include an overview of hotline activities in 35 government agencies.
The initiative to monitor government hotlines was broken down into two parts in accordance with the specific
objectives of the Action Plan. First, the Coalition examined the existence and method of operation of hotlines in
government agencies by gathering information directly from the ministries, committees and state agencies. Second, the Coalition evaluated the level of public awareness to determine whether the population was sufficiently informed about the existence of government hotlines by conducting a survey among 900 respondents in six regions, including Shaky, Ganja, Lankaran, Guba, Zagatala, and Mingachevir. The goal of the initiative was not only to estimate progress in the implementation of the National Strategy and Action Plan but also to contribute to the process by developing participatory mechanisms.
Progress in the implementation and public promotion of hotline programs in government agencies has been uneven.
Eight agencies that have no undertaken any steps to meet the provisions of the Action Plan relating to the creation of hotlines. The survey conducted by the Coalition showed that only 36.4% of respondents were aware of the existence and operation of hotlines in government agencies. The Ministry of Taxes can be showcased for its effort in deploying a hotline. The Ministry operates a toll-free three-digit hotline in Baku and the regions. It is used to respond to the inquiries of taxpayers, to provide legal information, and enable citizens to report cases of tax fraud and corruption.
The hotline operates 24 hours per day, seven days a week in live and automatic modes. In the first nine months of 2008 the Ministry received 274,510 calls via the hotline. The public is well-informed about the existence of this service through traditional media, print and internet advertising.
Based on the results of the monitoring the Coalition reached the following conclusions:
1. Indicators of use for well-functioning government hotlines suggest that such systems are an effective tool for
improving communication flows between government agencies and the public;
2. Such systems can help increase transparency, enhance the accountability of government officials, and
strengthen the role of citizens in combating corruption;
3. The lack of a standard methodology for establishing hotlines in government agencies undermines their
effectiveness and the speed with which the provisions of the Action Plan can be fulfilled;
4. Due to the absence of specific deadlines for the creation of hotlines, some government agencies have not begun work along this dimension of the Action Plan.
Following the presentation of the monitoring report, the Coalition will conduct a series of meetings with government officials to share its recommendations for the development and operation of hotlines and raising public awareness.
The Coalition will also engage in discussions with other CSOs and international organizations on progress in the
implementation of the National Strategy and Action Plan for Combating Corruption. The outcomes of this process will be integrated into the second part of the project, which will focus on the overall effectiveness and outcomes of anti-corruption efforts in Azerbaijan.
The project for the Alternative Monitoring of the Implementation of the National Strategy and Action Plan for
Combating Corruption is support by the USAID Civil Society Project and implemented by a Coalition of civil society organizations. The Coalition is comprised of the Citizens’ Labor Rights Protection League, Azerbaijan Young Lawyers Union, Eurasian Lawyers Association, and the Azerbaijan Lawyers Confederation. The goal of the Coalition is to increase the effectiveness of efforts to combat corruption in Azerbaijan by ensuring the active participation of CSOs in the implementation of the Action Plan.
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For more information, or to schedule an interview with Sahib Mammadov, email: sahib.mammadov@gmail.com
The International Advisory Board
The International Advisory Board (IAB) has been established in May 2009 according to the decision of the Executive Board of the Eurasian Lawyers Association (ELA) and the members of the IAB are selecting by the Executive Board with the recommendation of the Chairman.
IAB is consisting from the lawyers, human rights defenders, advocacy activists from all around the world with the aim of consolidation of the efforts of lawyers and human rights defenders for reinforcement of the situation with human rights and democratization in Eurasia region.
A major task of the International Advisory Board will be increasing the international nature of the ELAs’ activities and development of projects to sustain ELA into the longer term.
Members of IAB
Mr. Ramil Iskandarov, Chairman of the Executive Board of Eurasian Lawyers Association, coordinator of IAB, Alumni of the Chevening fellowship on Human Rights Law, University of Nottingham is a coordinator of the International Advisory Board.
The list of members of the International Advisory Board (IAB) of ELA:
Dr. Miriam Estrada-Castilio – Legal Officer, Counter-Terrorism Committee, UN.
Mr. Eugeniu Burdelnii – Moldova, MA in Politics, Security and Integration from University College London, John Smith Fellow 2005.
Mr. Betal Ozay – Turkey, Ozay&Demir Law Office, Partner.
Ms. Reshma Thapa – Nepal, Masters in Law, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA.
Mr. Ahmad Rasikh – Afganistan, Deputy Program Director, Civil Service Leadership Development, UNDP, Kabul.
Ms. Silda Anagnosti – Albania, National Legal Officer, OSCE Presence in Albania.
Ms. Aygul Saparova – Turkmenistan, LLM International Law, London Metropolitan University.
Ms. Marika Kapanadze - Founder of the Association “Leader Women for Democracy”.
Dr. Mohammed Albaki – Iraq, Iraqi Democratic Coalition for Youth Empowerment.
Ms. Sevara Sharapova – Uzbekistan, Ohio University, MA in International Affairs.
Ms. Ebba Lanner – Sweden, Mannheimer Swartling law firm, Legal Associate
The “Facebook” group of the Eurasian Lawyers Association has been created.
Facebook group of the Eurasian Lawyers Association is created in 2009 with the aim of fostering information exchange between the lawyers and human rights activists of the Eurasia region. The group consists already 50 members from around 20 countries. Those who are interested in joining the group, simply should register at facebook.com and search for Eurasian Lawyers Association and then to request for joining. The group is open for everyone who is interested in promotion of rule of law, human rights and democracy issues in Eurasia region.
