Supreme Court of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic

Supreme Court of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic hears, as a court of appeal, appeals and appeal protests made under court acts on the cases heard by the courts of first instance assigned to its territorial jurisdiction. Supreme Court of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic is comprised of a civil board, administrative-economical board, criminal board and military board.

Establishment of the Court

A Head Court was established in Nakhchivan Autonomous SSR with the decision of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of Azerbaijan SSR on 3 October 1925. The court which was called differently at different periods was called the Supreme Court of Nakhchivan Autonomous SSR since 1937 and subsequently did not go through any serious re-structuring, and retained the functions to hear cases assigned to it as a court of first and second instance, also carrying out court supervision over the courts in its competence. With the adoption of the new Constitution of USSR in 1977, it became necessary to revise the legislation which determined the activity of the judiciary of Azerbaijan SSR, and as a result a new Law “on the Judicial structure of Azerbaijan SSR” was adopted on 16 June 1981. That Law also expanded further the powers of the Supreme Court of Nakhchivan Autonomous SSR.

Activities of the Court

In order to ensure that justice is done in accordance with best international practices in the Republic of Azerbaijan and to strengthen further the independent judicial power, a Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan “on Courts and Judges” was adopted on 10 June 1997. Chpater 10 of the law contains stipulations solely about the regulation of the status of the Supreme Court of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The law determines the composition of the Supreme Court, Presidium and powers of the collegiums of the Supreme Court. The law regulates the composition of the Supreme Court, Presidium, the powers and other related issues as regards the collegiums of the Supreme Court.

The Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated 22 June 2010 on making amendments to the laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan "on Courts and judges" and "on Judicial Legal Council" replaced the names of the collegiums on civil cases, and cases related to economic disputes, criminal cases and cases of administrative offenses, as well as cases related to military courts which function under the Supreme Court of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, respectively with the phrases civil, administrative-economic, criminal and military collegium.

The Supreme Court of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic has been publishing its Bulletin since 2006. The Bulletin provides information to the public about the events held by the Supreme Court and decisions made by it, statistical data about the activities of the court, judges, as well as information for those who practice law on new normative legal acts, in particular those of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, including news of legal practices and resident practice of the European Commission of Human Rights.