AZERBAIJAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Farid Nabili, Pari Gasimli and Sona Abdullayeva, Caspian Legal Center
The binding force of the final award of the arbitra - tion can be predetermined by the parties. Class Action Claims Azerbaijani law does not provide for class action claims; but, as the law stands, the court may already decide to order the joinder of separately filed claims. Representation in Courts The law allows individuals with the necessary legal capacity to personally handle their lawsuits. Any employee may file a claim with the court through a representative. The representative can be the employ - ee’s close relative or an attorney whose authority is duly formalised. As evident, hiring an attorney is not compulsory, but there are exceptions: in cassation and additional cas - sation proceedings, as well as when a judicial act is reviewed in newly opened cases, the employee shall participate in court sessions only together with a law - yer. 9.2 Alternative Dispute Resolution According to the recently adopted Law “On Arbitra - tion”, labour disputes cannot be resolved in arbitra - tion. However, as indicated in 9.1 Litigation , parties to collective labour disputes may agree to solve their issue in labour arbitration in accordance with the Labour Code, which differs fundamentally from the arbitration defined in that Law. Unlike standard arbi - tration stipulated in the Law, which involves dispute resolution by an arbitration court issuing legally bind - ing decisions, labour arbitration for collective disputes operates through a temporarily established body rath - er than a formal court process.
The parties may agree in advance on the binding nature of the decisions of the labour arbitration. The term for consideration of the disputes shall not exceed seven business days. The decision of the labour arbi - tration shall be adopted by a majority vote and shall be formalised in a protocol. If the parties have agreed in advance on the bind - ing nature of the decisions, the dispute shall be con - sidered definitively resolved by the arbitration deci - sion and the continuation of the dispute shall not be allowed. To reiterate, individual labour disputes may not be heard in arbitration under the Law “On Arbitration”. However, collective arbitration disputes may be decid - ed by arbitration method enshrined in the Labour Code. No practice of such collective employment dispute arbitration exists. 9.3 Costs In accordance with the general rule, the court decides to award the party in whose favour the judgment is rendered a reasonable amount for the costs of assis - tance provided by an advocate, taking into account the specific circumstances and the information pre - sented, to be recovered from the other party. In cas - es where the mandatory participation of a lawyer is required, if the persons participating in the case do not have sufficient funds to pay for the advocate’s services, the court, upon the written application of the persons participating in the case, shall ensure the par - ticipation of the advocate at the expense of the state.
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