AZERBAIJAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Parviz Huseynov, GRATA International, Azerbaijan
5.2 Circumstances for Court Intervention Where the arbitral tribunal rules on its jurisdiction as a preliminary issue, either party may, within 30 days of receiving notice of that decision, apply to the com - mercial courts for a determination of the matter. A decision of the commercial courts finding that the arbitral tribunal lacks jurisdiction may be appealed to the appellate court, whose decision is final and not subject to further appeal. The submission of such an application does not pre - vent the arbitral tribunal from continuing the arbitral proceedings or rendering an arbitral award pending the court’s determination. However, where the parties have agreed that the arbitration shall be administered by a permanent arbitral institution, recourse to the courts is excluded unless the rules of that institution provide otherwise. Given that the Law on Arbitration is a relatively recent legislative enactment and judicial practice concerning this issue is still in its early stages of development, it is not yet possible to reach a definitive conclusion as to whether the national courts will adopt an active or a restrained approach in exercising their powers under the Law on Arbitration. 5.3 Timing of Challenge An objection to the arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction must be raised no later than the submission of the state- ment of defence. The appointment of an arbitrator, or participation in the appointment process, does not preclude a party from raising such an objection. An objection that the arbitral tribunal has exceeded the scope of its jurisdiction must be raised without delay after the matter alleged to fall outside the tri - bunal’s jurisdiction is introduced during the arbitral proceedings. Nevertheless, the arbitral tribunal may admit a late objection where it considers the delay to be justified. 5.4 Standard of Judicial Review for Jurisdiction/Admissibility The standard of judicial review applicable to ques - tions of jurisdiction and admissibility has not yet been established in Azerbaijani judicial practice. As dis - cussed in 5.2 Circumstances for Court Intervention ,
The Law on Arbitration also specifies the categories of persons who are ineligible to serve as arbitrators. These include: • members of the Parliament of the Republic of Azer - baijan and the Supreme Assembly (an organisation similar to parliament) of the Nakhchivan Autono - mous Republic; • civil servants; • military personnel; • members and employees of municipalities; • employees of public legal entities; • judges of the Republic of Azerbaijan; • persons declared by a court to lack or have limited dispositive capacity; • persons with an outstanding or unexpunged crimi - nal conviction; • military personnel transferred to the reserve during the preceding three years on grounds of profes - sional misconduct or deprivation of military rank by a court judgment or disciplinary sanction; • persons dismissed from law enforcement authori - ties; • persons whose judicial office, public service (including special types of public service), employ - ment in other state authorities, advocacy or notarial activities have been terminated as a disciplinary measure; and • persons who have been removed from member - ship of the mediation council. In addition to the qualifications applicable to arbi - trators, it is also important to note that the Law on Arbitration incorporates the principle of competence- competence. Accordingly, the arbitral tribunal is empowered to rule on its own jurisdiction, including any objections concerning the existence or validity of the arbitration agreement. The arbitral tribunal may determine such objections either as a preliminary issue or in the arbitral award deciding the dispute on the merits. 5. Jurisdiction 5.1 Challenges to Jurisdiction
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