Legal aid in the sphere of civil procedure

Khalig Gojayev. Legal aid in the sphere of civil procedure as a form of implementation of international legal norms

The article is devoted to the legal aid in the sphere of civil procedure as a form of implementation of international legal norms based on the diversity of opinions encountered in international practice and legal literature. It noted that receipt of legal aid concerns both domestic and international legal regulation. Implementation of diverse procedural actions implied by domestic legislation of applying state as a rule, is considered as legal aid in contemprorary international relations. Those actions include the following: interviewing witnesses, experts, and others, collecting tangible evidence, submission of documents, preparation and dispatch of documents for the implementation of civil procedure on civil, family and commercial matters.

The majority of procedural actions comprising legal aid are taken within the court. Those procedural actions are implemented in the form of judicial injunction. Judicial injunctions and other forms of legal aid encountered in current international practice are exercised on the basis of internaitonal treaties. Those treaties can be signed on both multilateral and bilateral basises.

Court orders and other forms of legal aid are implemented on the basis of international treaties in current international practice. Such treaties are both multilateral and bilateral. The following documents are regarded as examples of multilateral treaties: The Hague Convention Convention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, The Hague Convention of 18 March 1970 on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters and etc. The following ones are regional covenants and treaties: Minsk Convention of 1993 on legal aid and legal relations in civil, family and criminal cases, Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Matters of (2002 Chisinau Convention). Legal aid within the framework of international mainly encompass the forthcoming issues: review and resolving of written applications of foreign citizens; preparation and sending of civil registry documents; issuance of documents upon the request of notary and other competent public authorities; execution of court orders concerning search, seizure,expertise, questioning of witnesses,parties, third parties and experts; carrying out the court orders regarding issuance of documents; actual presence of evidence; implementation of investigation measures; issuance of copies of documents concerning inheritance cases upon the request of notary; recognition and implementation of court orders on civil matters upon the request of interested parties; information exchange.

Legal aid in civil matters is governed by the relevant articles of the Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Courts of the Republic of Azerbaijan in accordance with the national legislation and international treaties, agreed to be binding to the Republic of Azerbaijan, execute the orders of foreign courts regarding different procedural actions (issuing of summons and other documents; obtaining the testimonies of the parties and witnesses, expert’s conclusions; conduct of the on-site inspection etc.). Under certain conditions the orders should not be executed: in case the execution of an order would contravene the sovereignty of the Republic of Azerbaijan and general principles of its legislation; in case the execution of an order falls beyond the competence of the court.

Procedural orders of the foreign courts should be executed under the procedures provided for by the Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, unless the international treaties agreed to be binding to the Republic of Azerbaijan lay down other procedures. The courts of the Republic of Azerbaijan may address the orders regarding certain procedural actions to the foreign courts. Foreigners, apatrides, foreign legal entities and international organisations may bring cases before the courts of the Republic of Azerbaijan if they feel their rights and legitimate interests have been infringed. In such cases foreign legal and natural persons should enjoy procedural rights and owe duties equal to those of the national legal and natural persons of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Key words: civil procedure, international legal norms, legislation system, international treaties, regional treaties, implementation of legal norms.

  G Analytics
разработка сайта веб студия