PACE Ad Hoc Committee Adopts Azerbaijani Judges Appointed to European Court: Delegation Head

Azerbaijan, Baku, 17 March / corr Trend I.Alizade / The Ad Hoc Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has adopted a list of candidates from Azerbaijan, for the positions of judge at the European Court of Human Rights, with a positive response to the candidates submitted by Azerbaijan, Samad Seyidov, the head of Azerbaijani delegation to PACE, reported to Trend by telephone.

Three candidates from Azerbaijan have been nominated for the judge posts in the European Court on Human Rights. The candidates included Khanlar Hajiyev, who is the current judge of Azerbaijan in the European Court, Rovshan Ismayilov, and Saadat Yusifova, the employee of the Presidential Administration Department for the Work with Law Enforcement Agencies.

Along with Khanlar Hajiyev the second list included, Rashad Hasanov, the judge of Azizbayov District and Aygun Abdullayeva, the judge of Nasimi District.

Prior to the winter session, the Bureau of PACE, taking into account the proposals of the Sub-Committee on the Election of Judges, has sent back the list of candidates from Azerbaijan twice for the post of judge in the European Court, stating that the candidates did not meet the PACE stipulations and standards.

The delegation head said that the spring session of PACE due in April will discuss and resolve the issue related to the election of judges to the European Court from Azerbaijan

"The procedures related to the judges are complete," Seyidov added.

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. The candidates must all have equivalent experience, skills and knowledge.

The first list of candidates from Azerbaijan was returned during the PACE October session in 2007.

In accordance with Article 23.7 of the European Convention on Basic Human Rights and Freedom, judges must fulfill their duties until the appointment of new representatives have been made. The judges are elected with the majority of votes at the Parliamentary Assembly from the list of three candidates, submitted by the CE member-country.

The judges are elected by a majority of votes of Parliamentary Assembly from three candidates for a six-year term. However, once a judge reaches the age of 70 years he cannot continue in that post.