Codification of Civil Law in Azerbaijan: History, Current State and Prospects for Development

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the codification of civil law in Azerbaijan over the past 100 years. During the 20th century, Azerbaijan has adopted civil codes three times by codifying the norms of civil law. The development of new civil legislation from scratch after gaining independence in the early 1990s was aimed at the country’s transition from a planned economy to a market economy. The paper discusses a number of pressing problems of the civil legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan and puts forward several proposals for their solution. Assessing the results of the civil legislation of Azerbaijan adopted since independence, it is possible to say that, although most of the issues related to the creation and development of the civil law system have been resolved, there is a great need to reform and change the civil legislation of the country. The concept of development and reform of civil legislation in Azerbaijan should be transformed into a unified strategy aimed at more effective regulation of market relations in the country in order to gradually eliminate the «transitional» nature of market relations. The author proposes to optimize civil legislation in Azerbaijan. These should aim at revising a certain part of civil legislation, eliminating contradictions, recodifying old laws; improving norms for the protection of property rights, healthy competition, implementation of agreements and antimonopoly activities; reflecting the practice of law enforcement and interpretation of laws and improving the effectiveness of law enforcement practice; using innovations and successful experience of civil codes in a number of European and Asian countries in the modernization of civil legislation; improvement of the legal language and legislative technique; raising awareness of judges and lawyers through trainings; formation of legal consciousness of citizens through the media; public discussion of the adoption of new laws and amendments to controversial laws that meet modern challenges, with the participation of scientists and experts in the field of private law.