Baku, September 4, AZERTAC
In order to ensure the access of citizens to the judiciary, to inform them regularly about the activities of the judiciary, the work of wide use of opportunities of both of civil society representatives and the media, as well as the official websites and social networks of the Ministry of Justice is continued. From this point of view, the live broadcast of various activities of the judiciary on the Ministry's official Facebook page during the special quarantine regime in the implementation of the President's instructions also plays an important role in legal education of the population.
AZERTAC reports that, as part of the next measures taken in this direction, on September 4, the Ministry of Justice organized an online public discussion on "Organization of the execution of court decisions."
Aynur Sabitova, Chief of the Human Rights and Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Justice, Farid Afandiyev, Deputy Chief of the General Department of Bailiffs of the Ministry and Emin Veysov, Acting Chief of the Credit Debts Sector of the Department informed about the main activities of the executive service and innovations in this field and noted the respective statistic indications.
It was noted that, the General Department and its local executive bodies ensure the execution of court decisions on civil, economic disputes and administrative offenses, civil lawsuits and verdicts in the part of compensation of damages, court orders, and other documents entrusted to executive officers by law and function in other areas identified by the legislation. The General Department builds its activities on the principles of respect for human and civil rights and freedoms, the rule of law and humanism.
It was noted that, the Executive Service has developed significantly over the past twenty years. The activity of executive officers is regulated by the main Law on Execution, which has been amended up to 130 times in the past. At present, there are about 600 executive officers in Azerbaijan, and they perform their duties within the law. The volume of work in the field of enforcement of court decisions, which is one of the important activities of the Ministry of Justice, is growing every year. According to the report for the first half of this year, more than 710,000 cases were handled by the General Department of Bailiffs. In total, there are 71 local and 3 specialized executive bodies. In the regions, there are about 1,400 jobs per executive officer. This figure is higher in large cities. The decree of President Ilham Aliyev "On deepening reforms in the judicial-legal system" signed on April 3 last year also reflects the issue of private executive officers. According to the relevant instructions of the Minister of Justice, a relevant working group has been established on this issue, and a draft law "On Private Executive Officers" is being developed. According to the project, certain powers will be divided between private and public officials. In Azerbaijan, this issue will be left to the choice of the citizen. There will be a Disciplinary Commission that will look into complaints about private executive officers and set requirements for them. In general, the increase in the number of executive officers will increase efficiency in this area.
It was reported that by the order of the Minister of Justice Fikrat Mammadov dated February 21, 2020, a credit debt sector was established within the General Department of Bailiffs. Against the background of economic development of our country, the activation of financial resources has led to an increase in litigation in this area, the determination of the debtor and the claimant by court decisions. The vast majority of the cases currently pending are related to more than 350,000 work loans. In order to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the execution of such court decisions, a credit debt sector was established. The sector has achieved important goals in the implementation of the tasks. Firstly, the staff potential of the department was strengthened. At the same time, the executive documents related to credit debts, as well as numerous appeals were summarized and works were done to resolve them. An employee of the General Department of Bailiffs was included in the working group set up jointly with the Ministry of Justice and relevant financial institutions to speed up the process of enforcement of court decisions. The action plan prepared by the working group includes measures to study the situation of regulation of out-of-court settlement of credit obligations with alternative methods, as well as the study of international experience on the implementation mechanism.
It was noted that, the parties on the enforcement case mostly apply for the work of appraisal and auction organizations. Therefore, it is aimed at full automation of these areas. This will reduce the number of complaints in this area and achieve citizen satisfaction. In general, the goal is to minimize civil servant-citizen relations using technological innovations.
Regarding the provision of concessions to debtors for the voluntary execution of court decisions on loan debts, it was noted that the debtors are given a voluntary period by the court decision to ensure enforcement proceedings. However, the works provision rate during this period is very low, according to statistics. In this case, the executive officer shall begin to carry out compulsory enforcement measures in accordance with the requirements of the law. By the decree of the President of Azerbaijan dated February 28, 2019 "On additional measures to address the problem loans of natural persons", once again great concessions were made to citizens and many cases have been resolved. In accordance with the relevant decree of the President, about 100,000 cases related to the restructuring of problem loans have been terminated.
It was noted that due to the quarantine regime in the country, since March of this year, divorced families in Azerbaijan have been restricted from communicating with their children. However, during this period, parents were helped to communicate virtually with their children. Certain softenings, including the removal of restrictions on movement, have already created conditions for these parents to meet with their children.
It was noted that in the first half of this year, there were more than 88,000 alimony cases in the courts. The vast majority of them have been resolved. However, sometimes debtors do not want to pay alimony voluntarily. However, alimony is paid regularly in 70% of cases. But these are mandatory payments. Voluntary repayment of debt is about 1 percent, although it is encouraged in various ways.
It was noted that serious measures are taken in the executive service against executive officers who violate labor and executive discipline and are indifferent to citizens. In the first six months of this year, legal action has been taken against 12 executive officers who have committed shortcomings, and this work is ongoing.
The online public discussion also touched upon e-enforcement services and other issues, and answered questions from social network users.
