Azerbaijani constitutional referendum, 2002

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A constitutional referendum was held in Azerbaijan on 24 August 2002. [1] Voters were asked eight separate questions, all of which were approved with at least 96% voting in favour.

Azerbaijan republic in Western Asia and Eastern Europe

Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhchivan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, and has an 11 km long border with Turkey in the northwest.

Contents

Background

On 22 June 2002 President Heydar Aliyev proposed 39 amendments to 23 articles of the constitution. In accordance with articles 3 and 152, the amendments required a referendum to take place, with a turnout at least 50%. [2]

Heydar Aliyev Soviet and Azerbaijani politician

Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev was an Azerbaijani politician who served as the third President of Azerbaijan from October 1993 to October 2003. As national president he held constitutional powers, but his influence on Azerbaijani politics had begun years earlier. As a young man he had joined the Azerbaijan SSR People's Commissariat for State Security (NKGB) and quickly rose to the rank of Major-General.

Constitution of Azerbaijan constitution

The Constitution of Azerbaijan was adopted on 12 November 1995 by popular referendum. This Constitution was the first Constitution of independent Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic founded in 1918 and existed 23 months until 1920 was not able to adopt its constitution. Therefore, the history of Constitution building in Azerbaijan generally starts from the period of Azerbaijan being part of Soviet Union. The first Constitution of Azerbaijan SSR was adopted in 1921 and was in accordance with the Constitution of USSR. The last Constitution of Azerbaijan SSR was adopted on 21 April 1978 and also was in line and form of USSR Constitution. The first Constitution of independent Azerbaijan consists of 5 chapters, 12 sections and 147 articles. It was amended on 24 August 2002 and again on 18 March 2009. It carries the "highest legal force" in Azerbaijan as per article 147. The most recent amendments to the Constitution were approved after the Constitutional referendum held on 26 September 2016. In 2002, 31 amendments were made to 22 articles; in 2009, 41 amendments were made to 29 articles; and in 2016, 23 articles were amended and new 6 new articles were added.

The proposal was approved by the Constitutional Court on 21 June. On 24 July the Central Election Commission ruled that the 39 amendments would be covered by eight separate questions, despite demands from the opposition that each amendment be voted on separately. [2] On 30 August the Commission made a ruling that absolute voting figures would not be published, only the percentages. [2]

On 29 July the National Assembly voted by 94 to 5 to adopt the amendments. [2]

National Assembly (Azerbaijan)

The National Assembly, also transliterated as Milli Majlis, is the legislative branch of government in Azerbaijan. The unicameral National Assembly has 125 deputies: previously 100 members were elected for five-year terms in single-seat constituencies and 25 were members elected by proportional representation; as of the latest election, however, all 125 deputies are returned from single-member constituencies. Milli Majlis was the first secular republican parliament in the Muslim world.

Proposals

1. Changes due to liabilities of Azerbaijan Republic to European CouncilI. In Article 95, 6th and 19th items to be worded as follow:
"6) Election of authoritative representative on human rights of Azerbaijan Republic on the representation of the President of Azerbaijan Republic"; "19) amnesty".
II. Item 14 of Article 109 to be worded as follow:
"14) shall give representation on election of authoritative representative on human rights of Azerbaijan Republic to Milli Mejlis of Azerbaijan Republic".
III. To substitute the words "Economic Court" in Articles 95, 109, 125 and 128 for "Appellate courts".
IV. In Article 130:
- to remove the 7th item from part III, the 8th and 9th items to be considered items 7 and 9;
- parts V, VI and VII to be considered parts VIII, IX and Õ accordingly;
to add parts V, VI and VII in the following wording:
"V. Everyone, in the course of the law, may lodge a complaint to the Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan Republic regarding the standard acts of legislation and executive power authorities, municipal and judicial acts for decision of issues indicated in items 1-7 of part III of this article by the Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan Republic with the purpose of restoration of violated human rights and liberty".
"VI. The courts in the course of the law of Azerbaijan Republic, may apply to the Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan Republic for interpretation of the Constitution and laws of Azerbaijan Republic in view of issues on exercise of human rights and liberty"
"VII. The authoritative representative on human rights of Azerbaijan Republic may inquire the Constitutional Court about the standard acts of legislation and executive power authorities, municipal and judicial acts for decision of issues indicated in items 1-7 of part III of this article by the Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan Republic".
V. Article 132 to be worded as follow:
"Article 132. The appellate courts of Azerbaijan Republic
I. The appellate courts of Azerbaijan Republic shall be the highest legal body on considering disputes relating to their competence under the law.
II. Judges of the appellate courts of Azerbaijan Republic shall be appointed by the Milli Mejlis of the Azerbaijan Republic on the representation of the President of Azerbaijan Republic.
2. Changes due to joining of Azerbaijan Republic to European Convention on protection of human rights and libertyI. To remove the words "fulfilment of the order given by the authoritative official during the emergency situation and martial law" from Article 27 part IV.
II. To remove the word "only" from Article 71.
III. In Article 155: to add the words "or their annulment" after the word "changes"; the words "on restriction of items" to be replaced with the words "on deprivation of human rights and liberty or on restrictions of higher degree than those provided by international agreements supported by Azerbaijan Republic".
IV. In Article 125 part IV the words "in the implementation of Judicial power with the exception of the Constitutional legal procedure" to be replaced with the words "in criminal legal procedure".
V. In Article 76 part II the words "alternative military service" to be replaced with the words "alternative service".
3. Changes due to improvement of referendum conductingI. To add part III to Article 3 in the following wording:
"III. Referendum cannot be conducted on the following issues:
1) taxes and state budget;
2) amnesty and pardon;
3) election, appointment or approval of the officials, whose election, appointment or approval are under the jurisdiction of legislation bodies and (or) executive power accordingly".
4. Changes due to elections to Milli Mejlis of Azerbaijan RepublicI. In Article 83 the words "and proportionate election systems" to be replaced with the words "election systems".
II. To remove item 6 from Article 89 part I.
5. Changes due to election of the President of Azerbaijan RepublicI. In Article 101:
- in part II the words "by the majority of two thirds" to be replaced with the words "by the majority of more than half";
- in part IV to remove the word "simple"
II. In Article 102 number "7" to be replaced with number "14".
6. Changes due to improvement of public authorities activityI. The Article 95 part III to be worded as follow:
"III. Decrees are also adopted on other issues being under the jurisdiction of Milli Mejlis of Azerbaijan Republic according to the present Constitution of Azerbaijan Republic; on the issues connected with organizational management of Milli Mejlis of Azerbaijan Republic; on the issues, with respect to which Milli Mejlis should express its opinion".
II. In the first paragraph of Article 88 part I the words "two regular Sessions" to be replaced with the words "two regular autumnal and vernal Sessions"; the second, third and fourth paragraphs to be removed; in the sixth paragraph the words "until February 1" to be replaced with the words "until March 10".
III. In Article 105:
- in part I the words "the Chairman of Milli Mejlis of Azerbaijan Republic" to be replaced with the words "the Prime-minister of Azerbaijan Republic";
- in part II the words " In case of resignation of the Chairman of Milli Mejlis of Azerbaijan Republic" to be replaced with the words "In case of resignation of the Prime-minister of Azerbaijan Republic", and the words "shall be fulfilled by the Prime-Minister of Azerbaijan Republic" to be replaced with the words "shall be fulfilled by the Chairman of Milli Mejlis of Azerbaijan Republic";
- in part III the words "by the Prime-minister of Azerbaijan Republic" to be replaced with the words "by the Chairman of Milli Mejlis of Azerbaijan Republic".
IV. Article 158 to be worded as follow:
"Article 158. Restriction of Initiative on Introducing Additions to the Constitution of Azerbaijan Republic In light of the provisions reflected in the first section of the present Constitution, no additions can be proposed to the Constitution of Azerbaijan".
7. Changes due to conducting of judicial reformsI. In the first part of Article 96 after the words "Supreme Court" to add the words "Office of Public Prosecutor of Azerbaijan Republic", in parts II and IV after the words "Supreme Court" to add the words "Office of Public Prosecutor of Azerbaijan Republic", and in part V after the words "Supreme Court" to add the words "Office of Public Prosecutor of Azerbaijan Republic";
II. in the first part of Article 131 the words "it shall exercise control over the activity of general and specialized courts in the order specified by the Law" to be replaced with the words "it shall put justice into practice in appeal order".
III. in the first part of Article 133 after the words "in order" to add the words "and in cases of"; to remove the words "accurate and uniform".
8. Other changesI. To add part VI to Article 134 with the following wording:
"VI. The Constitution of Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic shall be represented by the President of Azerbaijan Republic and approved by the Constitutional Law".
II. Part III of Article 142 to be worded as follow:
"III. Principles of municipality status shall be determined by the present Constitution, and rules of elections to municipality shall be determined by the Law".
III. In part III of Article 149 the words "executive power" to be replaced with the words "legislative, executive power"
Source: Direct Democracy [2] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Results

QuestionForAgainstInvalidTotal votesRegistered votersTurnout
Question 197.072.630.283,899,2424,407,41788.47
Question 297.012.690.30
Question 396.822.690.35
Question 496.772.690.41
Question 596.992.730.28
Question 696.792.920.29
Question 796.792.800.41
Question 896.532.800.41
Source: Direct Democracy

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References

  1. ↑ Azərbaycan Respublikasının Konstitusiyasında dəyişikliklər edilməsi məqsədi ilə 24 avqust 2002-ci ildə keçirilmiş ümumxalq səsverməsinin (referendumun) yekunları haqqında" Archived November 11, 2013, at the Wayback Machine .
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Azerbaijan, 24 August 2002: Changes in terms of joining the European Council Direct Democracy (in German)
  3. ↑ Azerbaijan, 24 August 2002: Changes in terms of Azerbaijan's accession to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) Direct Democracy (in German)
  4. ↑ Azerbaijan, 24 August 2002: Holding of referendums Direct Democracy (in German)
  5. ↑ Azerbaijan, 24 August 2002: Electing the Parliament Direct Democracy (in German)
  6. ↑ Azerbaijan, 24 August 2002: Electing the President Direct Democracy (in German)
  7. ↑ Azerbaijan, 24 August 2002: Improving the authorities Direct Democracy (in German)
  8. ↑ Azerbaijan, 24 August 2002: Judicial Reform Direct Democracy (in German)
  9. ↑ Azerbaijan, 24 August 2002: A number of constitutional amendments Direct Democracy (in German)
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