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WHO IS THE LEGISLATIVE BODY?
By Annaqi Hagibayly
President of the Association of Azerbaijan Lawyers
from "Azadliq" newspaper
11 October 2000
POLITICS
Who is the legislative body? Although there
have been made attempts several times to find an answer to
this question it has been impossible to obtain a successful
find. Because the answer found in the legislation does not
coincide with the real situation in the country.
In accordance with Article 81 of the Constitution
of the Azerbaijan Republic, the Milli Majlis of the Azerbaijan
Republic shall carry out the legislative power in the country.
Based on Article 97, the laws shall be submitted to the President
of the Azerbaijan Republic for approval within 14 days upon
their adoption. And Article 110 requires that the President
of the Azerbaijan Republic shall sign the laws within 56 days
from the date of their submission to him. In accordance with
the Internal Charter of the Milli Majlis the draft laws submitted
for the third reading shall be adopted without making any
amendments and detailed consideration. However, in reality
the practice of making any desired amendments to the laws
adopted by the legislative body in the Milli Majlis and Presidential
offices even upon the third reading is widely spread. The
journalists and lawyers writing about this issue have evaluated
such situation as lack of restraint, weakness of the Milli
Majlis, lack of respect to the deputies, even a state crime.
However, the "mill" is doing its work…
The following victim is the law of Non-governmental
organizations (public associations and funds). My notes about
the faults of this law have already been published in "Azadliq"
newspaper, therefore in this article we speak about the differences
between the draft submitted for the third reading and the
published law. Everyone knows that the law was adopted on
13 June 2000. So, according to the requirement of the Constitution
the law had to be sent to the President for signing after
14 days, that is, by 28 June, and the President had to sign
it within 56 days, that is by 22 August. It turns out that
the law had to be published and entered into force by the
end of August. However, publication of the law after 116 days
upon its adoption shows that the provisions of the Constitution
have been violated, that is, either the law has not been signed
on time or it was signed with the old date.
The other two emptiness in the legislation
consists of the fact that there is not included a provision
that requires specification of the date of signing of the
law by the President. In addition, there is not included in
Article 38 of the Law "On normative legislative acts"
an instruction specifying within how many days the law shall
be published upon its adoption. Let us speak about the main
point. In order to describe visually the difference between
the draft (3rd reading) and the law I am going to bring to
the readers’ notice both texts without any interpretation.
Anyhow, there is no need for interpretation.
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Article 1.1. This law shall have an aim to
regulate the relations regarding the establishment
of funds and their operation and to carry out the
right of each person specified in Article 58 of the
Constitution of the Azerbaijan Republic to join others
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Article 1.1. This law shall
regulate the relations regarding establishment of
public associations and funds and their operation.
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Article 2.1. of several persons:
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Article 2.1. of several physical persons and
(or) legal entities:
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Article 2.4. Non-state organization
can not struggle for political power and can not come
to political power. Non-state organization can
put forward proposals about improvement of the
legislation in the manner stipulated in the laws of
the Azerbaijan Republic and its Charter.
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Article 2.4. Non-state organizations cannot
take part in the elections for the president of the
Azerbaijan Republic, Milli Majlis of the Azerbaijan
Republic and municipalities and cannot provide financial
or other kind of assistance to political parties.
Not-state organizations (with exception of foreign
physical persons and legal entities, the non-state
organizations receiving grant or funded otherwise
by the legal entities of the Azerbaijan Republic the
statutory capital of which includes more than 30 per
cent share of foreign physical persons and legal entities)
in accordance with the legislation of election, may
observe the presidential elections, elections for
Milli Majlis and municipalities of the Azerbaijan
Republic. A non-state organization may put forward
proposals on improvement of legal-legislative acts
stipulated in the laws of the Azerbaijan Republic
and its own Charter.
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Article 13.1. management procedure: terms
and procedure for adoption to the membership of a
public association and leaving it (in case the public
association has a membership).
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Article 13.1. the procedure of being managed:
terms and procedure for adoption to the membership
of a public association and leaving it.
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Article 14.2 In case keeping of the fund charter
in unchanged form creates the results that cannot
be seen in advance while establishing the fund and
in case there is not stipulated in its charter the
possibility of changes or the charter has not been
changed by officials, making amendments to this charter
shall be taken into court in accordance with the Observation
Board of the legal fund.
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Article 14.2. The Guardianship Board may change
the charter of fund, provided that the charter should
stipulate the possibility of its change in such manner.
In case keeping of the fund charter in unchanged form
creates the results that cannot be seen in advance
while establishing the fund and in case there is not
stipulated in its charter the possibility of changes
or the charter has not been changed by officials,
making amendments to this charter shall subject to
court in accordance with application of the Guardianship
Board of the legal fund.
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Article 22.3. The non-state organizations
must receive an approval (license) in accordance with
established procedure for the types of activity determined
by the law.
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Article 22.3. This sentence
has been removed
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Article 25.5.1 - making amendments to the
charter of public association;
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Article 25.5.1 - adoption of the charter of
public association and making amendments to it;
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Article 25.7. The protocol must be signed
by all members participating in the meeting or shall
be signed by the chairman or secretary of the meeting
and put to the vote for approval at the next general
meeting.
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Article 25.7. These sentences have been removed
and changed
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Article 27.2. The Observation
Board shall be the body of the fund.
Item 3 was not included in Article 29
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Article 27.2. The Guardianship Board shall
be the control body of the fund
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Article 29.3. The fund shall be obliged to
publish every year the reports on utilization of its
property
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Article 31.4. In case the non-state organization
is given more than two warnings in written or an instruction
about overcoming of the breaches, the non-state organization
may be liquidated by the decision of court in accordance
with the procedure stipulated in Article 20 of this
Law.
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Article 31.4. In case the non-state organization
is given more than two warnings in written during
one year or an instruction about overcoming of the
breaches, the non-state organization may be liquidated
by the decision of court.
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Besides this, in article 2.2 the word "regulated"
is replaced with the word "carried", in articles
13.2 and 14.1 "Observation Board" with "Guardianship
Board", in articles 19.3, 19.4 and 19.5 ‘from the date
of carrying registration" with "from the date of
entry of the notes into the state registry", in article
22.2 "in friendships" with "in middles",
in article 29.2 "number of personnel" with "number
of employees". There have been made stylistic changes
in articles 6.1, 11, 16.2, 17.1, 19.6, 25.2, 25.6 and 28 of
the draft.
As matter of fact, a number of these changes
are correct and has the aim to conform the law to the Civil
Code and other laws. However, this could be done not in anti-constitutional
manner but according to law.
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Posted October 11, 2000 © Eurasianet
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