Azerbaijan, Baku, 18 February / Trend corr. K.Zarbaliyeva / There is no candidate in the Supreme Court to represent Azerbaijan in the European Court, Ramiz Rzayev, the chairman of Supreme Court, stated on 18 February.
PACE returned the list holding the names of candidates submitted by Azerbaijan to the European Court for the positions of judge. The list which included Khanlar Hajiyev- judge of Baku's Azizbayov District Court, Rashad Hasanov, judge of Baku's Nasimi District Court and Aygun Abdullayeva, was not approved during the PACE sub-committee meeting in Paris on 17 December.
The sub-Committee decision stated that the candidates did not meet the PACE demands and standards. Therefore, judiciary organizations, Bar Association, NGOs functioning in Azerbaijan and separate persons are invited to nominate their candidature to the position in the European Court. The Court legal Council reported that the main focus during selection of judges will be on the knowledge and experience in the Convention of Protection of human rights and main freedom, as well as the knowledge of English or French languages.
Chingiz Askarov, the representative of Azerbaijan in the European Court, believes that the major reason for the rejection of the judges is the fact that only a few lawyers have the knowledge of foreign languages.
A group of judges and human rights activists appealed to the European Court on the threshold of the session with a claim to reject the list of judges from Azerbaijan. Candidates must have equal experience, skill and knowledge.
The first list of candidates from Azerbaijan was returned during the PACE October session in 2007.
MP Samad Seidov, the head of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE reported that the issue concerning representation of Azerbaijan in the European Court would be settled by March. The contest announced by the Court legal Council was completed on 17 February. According to the information, ten people were nominated to judiciary posts. Three judges will be elected in compliance with the contest.