Azerbaijan, Baku, Apr. 6 / corr Trend K.Zarbaliyeva /
Last year, Azerbaijani courts did not release any suspects on bail.
Although the Criminal Executive Code, which was adopted in 2000, envisages the use of release on bail, this preventive punishment has not been widely applied in practice.
As a rule, courts prefer arrests as preventive punishment. The Baku and Sumgayit courts last year submitted 3,529 appeals for arrests as preventive punishment (excluding military crimes) and 1,311 appeals to prolong imprisonment. Ninety-eight percent of the appeals were approved.
Ninety-nine percent of the suspects arrested as a preventive punishment had committed crimes that did not endanger the public, while 2,193 had committed petty crimes, and 1,337 had committed serious and heinous crimes. The courts approved 49 percent of the appeals to replace their preventive punishment with house arrest.
Last year, courts did not consider a single case of release on bail as preventive punishment, the Baku Appeals Court told Trend .
The Justice Ministry's Central Organization Control Department did not provide any statistics on the number of releases on bail last year. Trend received no reply from the organization.
In accordance with the Criminal Processing Code, a bail is an alternative to an arrest and can be applied as opposed to an arrest until the passing of a court verdict.
In accordance with the law, release on bail as preventive punishment envisions releasing a suspect charged with a crime that did not endanger the public, or a petty crime, or a heinous crime committed out of negligence. Securities and valuable items applicable for use as bail are defined by the court and deposited in the state bank as a retainer.
Release on bail as a preventive measure can only be considered by the court upon the request of the defendant. Securities may include the property and funds of the accused or his relatives.
The court is not entitled to appoint a large sum - no less than 5,000 manat for suspects charged with crimes that do not endanger society, and no less than 10,000 manat for suspects charged with petty crimes or heinous crimes committed out of negligence.
The prosecutor may also appeal to the court for a release on bail if the suspect refuses criminal responsibility.
In all cases, securities must be returned to the suspect after the verdict is read.
Experts, judges and lawyers disagree as to why bail is rarely applied in Azerbaijan.
According to Supreme Court Justice Muzaffar Agazade, Azerbaijani legislation envisages 10 types of preventive punishment and only two are practiced widely - arrests and home arrests.
Agazade told Trend that few people are interested in bail due to accompanying high fines.
"No one will agree to pay such a large sum to be released on bail during an investigation only to be later sent to jail. A person accused of a crime prefers to remain under arrest and not to pay any money," he said.
According to the justice, low wages are the main reason why bail is rarely requested.
"People will be interested in bail when they are making a lot of money," Agazade said.
The justice added that bail is hardly requested due to poor legal education among lawyers.
Agazade said the bail amount should also be reduced and the legislature alone should review this issue.
According to Human Rights Lawyers Committee head Akif Alizade, bail was not requested a single time during court monitoring under the 2008-2009 project "Monitoring the Right to a Fair Trial."
Lawyer Isakhan Ashurov does not agree with Agazade as to why bail is never requested. He simply believes that courts are not interested in bail.
"I and the accused repeatedly raised the bail issue. I appeal three times to the courts in 2009," he said. "We even offered a greater amount than the figure specified in the legislation. The courts dismissed our appeal without providing any reason. This is a violation of fair trial," he said.
According to Ashurov, the state should instead be interested in applying bail.
"Amounts paid as bail enter the state treasury. They remain in circulation, which helps the state implement its fiscal and financial policy," he said.
Should the Justice Ministry and the Supreme Court demand that courts apply bail, then bail will be applied, Ashurov said.
According to lawyer Mukhtar Mustafayev, his colleagues do not request bail due to problems with the relevant legislation.
Mustafayev said bail is rarely applied due to the absence of a fair legal system and the sub-par legal education of lawyers.
"Lawyers should ask for bail. We are sure that things have to proceed like the prosecutor wants. Lawyers must ask for bail and appeal to the European Court. If the European Court maeks a decision against Azerbaijan in this regard, then this will have a positive impact on courts," Mustafayev said.
Meanwhile, lawyer Fuad Agayev said the rare application of "release on bail" is rooted in the legislation.
In accordance with the Criminal Executive Code, bail can be applied in several instances, he said.
"Bail use should be expanded in Azerbaijan as in other countries and changes should also be made to the Criminal Executive Code. Bail should be applied widely when suspects are charged with economic crimes," Agayev said.
According to Baku Appeals Court Judge Gail Mammadov, he has never seen a case where a suspect has been released on bail.
Meanwhile, Anar Jafarov, the head of the Constitutional Court Appeals Department, said bail is something new to Azerbaijan and judges should avoid applying such procedures.
There is no security mechanism for their application, he added.
"Should the securities be handed over in cash or placed in deposit? The issue remains unsolved. We must adopt the necessary norms and procedures to regulate the issue. We need to summarize forensic experience related to bail use and develop the applicable mechanism," Jafarov said.