Special attention is always paid to the protection of human rights in our country under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev, progressive reforms are carried out in this area, including penitentiary policy in humanized.
The acts of pardon and amnesty adopted by the President and by the initiative of the First Vice President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva, the pardon of 176 prisoners over the age of 65 during the COVID-19 pandemic are a clear manifestation of the humanist policy of our state.
At the same time, in order to reduce the use of imprisonment and give preference to alternative punishments, the Presidential Decree on humanization of penal policy dated February 10, 2017 made fundamental changes to the criminal law, decriminalized many acts, and established a new type of restriction of liberty.
6,400 of the submissions sent to the courts on convicts affected by the new law on amendments to the Criminal Code initiated by the President were provided, including 1,737 convicts detained in penitentiaries and registered with probation institutions were released from prison, the period of punishment for the acts of 2,800 convicts were reduced according to new articles.
At the same time, the Ministry of Justice has introduced the institution of parole, which has intensified during the current pandemic, and more than 600 prisoners have been released on parole and registered for probation.Relevant court decisions on the parole of 1,270 people registered with the probation agencies are underway.
The Decree of April 3, 2019 "On deepening the reforms in the judicial-legal system" also instructed to continue measures to humanize the penal policy and decriminalization of crimes as a manifestation of the humanist policy of the President, and in this regard by learning advanced international experience, draft laws on amendments to the Criminal Code, Criminal-Procedural Code, Code of Execution of Administrative Offenses and Punishments, including decriminalization of many acts, wider use of alternative punishments and application of new progressive legal institutions were submitted to the Milli Majlis and by the initiative of the head of state, significant amendments were made to the Criminal Code by the Law on 01.05.2020.
According to the amendments, 35 acts were completely decriminalized with full or increased criminal liability, some crimes were released on the condition of reconciliation with the victim and compensation for damages, alternative punishments to the sanction of 30 articles in order to reduce the use of imprisonment, including fines, correctional works and restraint of liberty were introduced, and penalties for crimes against military service were reduced.
The new Law and the Presidential Decree dated 22.05.2020 on its application set important tasks for the judiciary, and in this regard, the Ministry of Justice signed a comprehensive Order dated June 1, 2020 and gave instructions on provision of the fair and organized implementation of the law, including organization of trainings for penitentiary and probation officers, as well as conducting extensive awareness-raising on the humanistic nature of the law with the participation of civil society representatives, and the immediate identification of those affected by the law and their immediate release and commutation of their sentences.
Report of the Press Service of the Ministry of Justice
