AZERBAIJAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Parviz Huseynov, GRATA International, Azerbaijan
With regard to foreign lawyers, legal assistance by them is limited only to the provision of advice and opinions concerning the laws of the state of which the foreign lawyer is a national or the application of the rules of international law. Their participation in court proceedings concerning civil, criminal, administra - tive, commercial and administrative offence matters is permitted only on the basis of reciprocity and in accordance with the international treaties to which the Republic of Azerbaijan is a party. As regards representation, the Civil Procedure Code further provides that a legal entity may be represent - ed before the courts by its duly authorised officers, employees whose principal place of employment is that legal entity, or advocates. The representative’s authority must be evidenced by a duly executed pow - er of attorney issued in accordance with the applica - ble legal requirements. Against this background, it may reasonably be con - cluded that the terms “advocate” and “representative” used in the Law on Arbitration should be interpreted in accordance with the corresponding concepts under Azerbaijani legislation. Accordingly, where a party to an arbitration seated in Azerbaijan wishes to be represented by foreign legal counsel, the preferable approach is for such person to appear as a “repre - sentative” rather than as an “advocate”. It should also be noted that Azerbaijani legislation does not prescribe any specific qualification requirements for persons acting as representatives of legal entities. 8. Evidence 8.1 Collection and Submission of Evidence As arbitration remains a relatively new dispute resolu - tion mechanism in Azerbaijan, there is still very limited practice regarding the manner in which arbitral tribu - nals exercise their powers in relation to the taking of evidence. The Law on Arbitration stipulates that an arbitral tribunal, or the parties with the tribunal’s con - sent, may apply to the commercial courts for assis - tance in obtaining evidence. Once such an applica - tion is submitted, the court reviews it and issues an appropriate decision within the scope of its statutory authority and in line with the relevant procedural rules.
The Civil Procedure Code likewise recognises the taking of evidence as one of the forms of judicial assistance available in support of arbitration. Appli - cations submitted for this purpose are examined in accordance with the general rules governing the tak - ing of evidence under the Civil Procedure Code. Under those rules, the responsibility for securing evidence rests with the court. Evidence may be secured by, in particular: • examining witnesses; • appointing experts; • requesting documentary evidence; and • inspecting documentary or physical evidence. The parties to the arbitral proceedings, or the arbitral tribunal where the application has been made by the tribunal itself, must be notified of the time and place at which the application will be considered. Their absence, however, does not prevent the court from determining the application. Following its examina - tion, the court issues a ruling specifying the manner in which the evidence is to be secured. The records of the relevant procedural acts, together with all materi - als obtained during the taking of evidence, are sub - sequently transmitted to the arbitral tribunal, while the parties or, where appropriate, the arbitral tribunal are notified accordingly. 8.2 Rules of Evidence The rules of evidence are largely a matter for the arbi - tral tribunal. Unless the parties have agreed on the procedural rules governing the arbitration, the tribu - nal is free to conduct the proceedings in the manner it considers appropriate, subject to the requirements of the Law on Arbitration. This procedural discretion extends to determining the admissibility, relevance, materiality and evidentiary weight of the evidence pre - sented by the parties. 8.3 Powers of Compulsion Unlike the national courts, arbitral tribunals do not possess coercive powers in relation to the taking of evidence. Where a witness is summoned by a nation - al court, attendance is mandatory, and an unjustified failure to appear may result in legal consequences, including the imposition of a fine. As a measure of last
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