Communicated on 11 October 2016

FIFTH SECTION

Application no 11923/15 Ruslan KHALILOV against Azerbaijan and 15 other applications (see list appended)

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicants are Azerbaijani nationals. They are represented before the Court by Mr Y. Agazadeh, a lawyer practising in Azerbaijan (see Appendix).

A. The circumstances of the cases

The facts of the cases, as submitted by the applicants, may be summarised as follows.

1. Requests for the State registration of associations

The applicants are the founders – or are amongst the founders – of non ‑ governmental organisations established in the form of public associations (“associations”). On various dates the applicants submitted requests to the Ministry of Justice (“the Ministry”) for state registration of those associations as legal entities, as required by the domestic law, together with the relevant documents.

While the domestic law did not require associations to be officially registered, the effective operation of an association, including the ability to receive and register grants, open bank accounts and so on, was contingent on obtaining the status of a legal entity.

Relying on Article 11.3.1 of the Law on State Registration and the State Register of Legal Entities (“the Law on State Registration”) the Ministry rejected the requests for state registration and returned the documents submitted by the applicants on account of certain deficiencies that needed to be rectified.

After correcting the deficiencies pointed out by the Ministry, the applicants re-submitted the documents for registration of the associations concerned. On various dates the Ministry again returned the documents submitted by the applicants, referring to some new deficiencies (which had not been mentioned in the initial rejection letters) that needed to be rectified.

After receiving second rejection letters, some of the applicants lodged a complaint against the Ministry ’ s actions with the domestic courts, while the others re-submitted the documents after rectifying the deficiencies pointed out by the Ministry. Those requests for state registration were rejected (and re-submitted) several times in the same manner before the applicants decided to complain to the domestic courts (see Appendix).

2. Deficiencies indicated by the Ministry in its last rejection letters

Deficiencies indicated by the Ministry in its last rejection letters were as follows:

(a) in contravention of sub-paragraph 2.5 of the Rules on Registration of Non-Commercial organisations and Educational Institutions, the founders ’ decision about the association ’ s address was not submitted (applications nos. 11923/15 and 19412/15 );

(b) in contravention of Article 25.1 of the Law on Non-Governmental Organisations (Public Associations and Funds) (“the Law on NGOs”), the charter did not set out the composition of the Control and Review Committee (application no. 18555/15);

(c) in contravention of Article 10.2 of the Law on NGOs, the charter assigned supervision over the association ’ s management bodies to its founders rather than to its members (application no. 18568/15);

(d) in contravention of Article 5.4.1 of the Law on State Registration, the decision establishing the association and approving its charter did not refer to the formation of those management bodies (applications nos. 20700/15 and 34080/15);

(e) Article 8.3 of the charter must be amended in accordance with Article 6.1.3 of the Rules on the Form, Content and Submission of the Annual Financial Report of an NGO (application no. 22809/15);

(f) in contravention of Article 9.2 of the Law on NGOs, the charter did not indicate the mutual rights and responsibilities of the founders (applications nos. 34064/15, 34082/15 and 42503/15);

(g) a certificate confirming property rights was not attached to the founding documents of the association (application no. 34068/15);

(h) in contravention of Article 13.1 of the Law on NGOs, the charter did not set out the procedure for making amendments to it (application no. 34116/15 );

(i) in contravention of Article 9.2 of the Law on NGOs, the rights and obligations of the founders as regards their participation in the activities of the association were not set out in the charter (application no. 35090/15);

(j) in contravention of Article 5.4.1 of the Law on Registration, the decision establishing the association ’ s management bodies was not submitted (applications nos. 42009/15 and 50722/15);

(k) in contravention of Article 10.3 of the Law on NGOs, the charter did not set up guarantees for complaining internally about cancellation of membership of the association (including the procedure and the time ‑ frame for examining a complaint) (application no. 43025/15).

3. Court proceedings

On various dates the applicants complained about the violation of their right to freedom of association and asked first-instance courts to order the Ministry to carry out state registration of the associations concerned. The applicants claimed that the grounds which the Ministry had cited were false and/or could not constitute a basis under the domestic law for refusal of state registration.

On various dates the respective first-instance courts dismissed the applicants ’ complaints (“ iddia ərizəsi ”), finding nothing unlawful in the actions of the Ministry (see Appendix).

The applicants appealed against those judgments, reiterating their previous complaints. The Baku Court of Appeal upheld the first-instance courts ’ judgments (see Appendix).

On various dates the Supreme Court upheld the Baku Court of Appeal ’ s respective judgments (see Appendix).

On an unspecified date after the proceedings before the Supreme Court, the applicants in application no. 34068/15 resubmitted their request for state registration. On 5 May 2015 the Ministry of Justice again rejected that request.

B. Relevant domestic law

1. The Law on State Registration and the State Register of Legal Entities of 12 December 2003, effective from 9 January 2004

Article 8 of the Law provided as follows:

“8.1. State registration of a non-commercial organisation wishing to obtain legal ‑ entity status ... shall be carried out within 40 days. ...

8.3. If deficiencies which do not warrant refusal of state registration are detected in the submitted documents, the relevant executive body of the Republic of Azerbaijan [i.e. the Ministry of Justice] shall return those documents to the applicant and provide an additional 20-day period for rectifying those deficiencies. All deficiencies which do not warrant refusal of registration must be identified at the same time and conveyed to the applicant for rectification. ...”

Article 11 of the Law provided as follows:

“... 11.3. State registration of an entity applying to obtain legal-entity status ... may be refused only in the following cases:

11.3.1. if the documents submitted [for the registration] to the relevant executive body of the Republic of Azerbaijan contravene the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the present Law and other legislative acts; ...”

2. The Law on Non-Governmental Organisations (Public Associations and Funds) of 13 June 2000

Article 16 of the Law provided as follows:

“... 16.3. If an inconsistency is detected in the founding documents of a non ‑ governmental organisation ... as regards the law, the relevant executive body shall require that organisation to make their founding documents comply with the law within a 30-day period. ...”

Article 17 of the Law provided as follows:

“17.1. State registration of a non-governmental organisation may be refused only in the cases specified in the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on State Registration and the State Register of Legal Entities. ...”

COMPLAINTS

The applicants complain under Article 11 of the Convention that the failure by the Ministry of Justice to register the associations which they founded amounted to a violation of their right to freedom of association.

1. Has there been an interference with the applicants ’ freedom of association, in particular, their right to form an association, within the meaning of Article 11 § 1 of the Convention? In particular, did the actions of the Ministry of Justice and the reasons given by it for returning the registration documents comply with the requirements of the domestic law? If so, was the interference necessary in terms of Article 11 § 2?

2. The parties are requested to provide the Court with all the documents relating to the establishment of their associations in question and the requests for state registration, as well as with all the documents relating to the relevant domestic court proceedings.

APPENDIX

No.

Application no.

Lodged on

Applicant name

date of birth

place of residence

Represented by

Notes

First-instance judgment

Appellate instance judgment

Final judgment

11923/15

10/02/2015

Ruslan KHALILOV

1983Kurdamir

Yashar AGAZADEH

Centre for Journalist Initiatives (“ Jurnalist Təşəbbüsləri Mərkəzi ”) was founded in 2012.

The Ministry of Justice returned the documents two times (on 14 September 2012 and 22 November 2013).

Decision of the Baku Administrative Economic Court no. 1 of 3 March 2014

Decision of the Baku Court of Appeal of 6 May 2014

Decision of the Supreme Court of 17 September 2014

18555/15

08/04/2015

Emin BASHIRLI

1979Shirvan

Vusal YOLCHUYEV

1992Shirvan

Yashar AGAZADEH

Youths ’ Centre for Fight against HIV/AIDS and Drug Addiction ( “ Gənclərin HİV/AİDS və Narkomaniya Qarşı Mübarizə Mərkəzi ” ) was founded in 2012.

The Ministry of Justice returned the documents four times (on 11 December 2012, 18 April, 19 September and 13 December 2013).

Decision of the Baku Administrative Economic Court no. 1 of 5 June 2014

Decision of the Baku Court of Appeal of 14 August 2014

Decision of the Supreme Court of 10 December 2014

18568/15

08/04/2015

Mammad TALIBLI

1973Nakhchivan

Ramil ZEYNALOV

1986Baku

Yashar AGAZADEH

Association “Institute for Economic Analysis” (“ İqtisadi Təhlil İnstitutu ”) was founded in 2012.

The Ministry of Justice returned the documents three times (on 22 April, 5 August and 12 November 2013).

Decision of the Baku Administrative Economic Court no. 1 of 9 April 2014

Decision of the Baku Court of Appeal of 5 August 2014

Decision of the Supreme Court of 20 November 2014

19412/15

03/04/2015

Firidun MAMMADOV

1970Baku

Suleyman MAMMADOV

1970Agdam

Yashar AGAZADEH

“War Veterans with Disability” Association (“ Vətən Müharibəsi Əlilləri ”) was founded in 2011.

The Ministry of Justice returned the documents seven times (on 13 May, 22 July and 5 December 2011, 20 April and 22 August 2012, 24 June and 5 November 2013).

Decision of the Baku Administrative Economic Court no. 1 of 27 March 2014

Decision of the Baku Court of Appeal of 5 August 2014

Decision of the Supreme Court of 4 December 2014

20700/15

11/04/2015

Akif GURBANOV

1981Baku

Vasif PIRIYEV

1980Baku

Yashar AGAZADEH

“Institute for Democratic Initiatives” Association (“ Demokratik Təşəbbüslər İnstitutu ”) was founded in 2013.

The Ministry of Justice returned the documents two times (on 17 December 2013 and 21 February 2014).

Decision of the Baku Administrative Economic Court no. 1 of 15 May 2014

Decision of the Baku Court of Appeal of 14 August 2014

Decision of the Supreme Court of 16 December 2014

22809/15

23/04/2015

Neman LATIFOV

1979Barda

Orkhan ABBASOV

1988Barda

Yashar AGAZADEH

Regional Centre for Fight against Corruption (“ Regional Korrupsiyaya Qarşı Mübarizə Mərkəzi ”) was founded in 2012.

The Ministry of Justice returned the documents three times (on 17 August 2012, 5 September and 24 December 2013).

Decision of the Baku Administrative Economic Court no. 1 of 22 April 2014

Decision of the Baku Court of Appeal of 10 September 2014

Decision of the Supreme Court of 9 December 2014

34064/15

01/07/2015

Sevinj ISGANDAROVA

1968Beylagan

Konul AMIROVA

1977Beylagan

Yashar AGAZADEH

Centre for Protection of the Rights of Women Patients (“ Qadın Pasiyentlərin Hüquqlarının Müdafiəsi Mərkəzi ”) was founded in 2013.

The Ministry of Justice returned the documents two times (on 17 October 2013 and 14 March 2014).

Decision of the Baku Administrative Economic Court no. 1 of 18 June 2014

Decision of the Baku Court of Appeal of 3 December 2014

Decision of the Supreme Court of 2 April 2015

34068/15

01/07/2015

Mehriban AHMADOVA

1973Ganja

Jeyhun ALIYEV

1978Ganja

Yashar AGAZADEH

Centre for Psycho-social Training and Consultation (“ Psixososial Təlim və Konsultasiya Mərkəzi ”) was founded in 2013.

The Ministry of Justice returned the documents four times (on 25 September and 22 November 2013, 27 January and 17 April 2014). The documents were returned also on 5 May 2015.

Decision of the Baku Administrative Economic Court no. 1 of 9 July 2014

Decision of the Baku Court of Appeal of 23 October 2014

Decision of the Supreme Court of 11 March 2015

34080/15

01/07/2015

Matlab BALAKISHIYEV

1969Jabrayil

Hikmat GAFARLI

1987Jabrayil

Yashar AGAZADEH

Association for Promotion of Youths ’ Health – “Logman” (“ ‘ Loğman ’ Gənclərin Sağlamlığına Dəstək ”) was founded in 2013.

The Ministry of Justice returned the documents two times (on 22 November 2013 and 9 September 2014).

Decision of the Baku Administrative Economic Court no. 1 of 17 December 2014

Decision of the Baku Court of Appeal of 18 February 2015

Decision of the Supreme Court of 19 May 2015

34082/15

01/07/2015

Sevda SAFARALIYEVA

1970Baku

Zamina SAFARALIYEVA

1973Baku

Yashar AGAZADEH

Association for Support to Disabled People – “Deyer” (“ ‘ Dəyər ’ Əlillərə Dəstək” ) was founded in 2013.

The Ministry of Justice returned the documents two times (on 13 December 2013 and 26 February 2014).

Decision of the Baku Administrative Economic Court no. 1 of 17 July 2014

Decision of the Baku Court of Appeal of 18 November 2014

Decision of the Supreme Court of 21 April 2015

34116/15

01/07/2015

Fikrat JAFAROV

1968Baku

Fuad BADIROV

1966Baku

Yashar AGAZADEH

Centre for Research against Torture (“ İşgəncələr Əleyhinə Araşdırmalar Mərkəzi ”) was founded in 2014.

The Ministry of Justice returned the documents two times (on 17 June and 20 August 2014).

Decision of the Baku Administrative Economic Court no. 1 of 18 November 2014

Decision of the Baku Court of Appeal of 24 December 2014

Decision of the Supreme Court of 2 April 2015

35090/15

19/06/2015

Khazar TEYYUBLU

1968Baku

Ilyas KHABAROV

1958Baku

Yashar AGAZADEH

Centre for Protection of Political Rights (“ Siyasi Hüquqların Müdafiəsi Mərkəzi ”) was founded in 2013.

The Ministry of Justice returned the documents two times (on 24 December 2013 and 4 April 2014).

Decision of the Baku Administrative Economic Court no. 1 of 4 July 2014

Decision of the Baku Court of Appeal of 27 November 2014

Decision of the Supreme Court of 4 March 2015

42009/15

03/08/2015

Farzali VALILI

1949Shirvan

Allahverdi HAJIYEV

1954Shirvan

Yashar AGAZADEH

Association for Support to Teachers (“ Müəllimlərə Dəstək ”) was founded in 2013.

The Ministry of Justice returned the documents two times (on 14 May and 20 August 2014).

Decision of the Baku Administrative Economic Court no. 1 of 11 November 2014

Decision of the Baku Court of Appeal of 5 February 2015

Decision of the Supreme Court of 4 June 2015

42503/15

03/08/2015

Zaur AKBAROV

1984Khojali

Parvin GULIYEV

1987Gadabay

Yashar AGAZADEH

Youths Club (“ Gənclər Klubu ”) was founded in 2014.

The Ministry of Justice returned the documents two times (on 8 May and 19 August 2014).

Decision of the Baku Administrative Economic Court no. 1 of 16 December 2014

Decision of the Baku Court of Appeal of 11 March 2015

Decision of the Supreme Court of 10 June 2015

43025/15

11/08/2015

Elchin ASADOV

1976Baku

Rovshan ISAYEV

1989Baku

Yashar AGAZADEH

Association for Citizen Initiatives – “Azad Herekat” (“ ‘ Azad Hərəkat ’ Vətəndaş Təşəbbüsləri” ) was founded in 2013.

The Ministry of Justice returned the documents three times (on 26 September and 10 December 2013 and 18 August 2014).

Decision of the Baku Administrative Economic Court no. 1 of 16 December 2014

Decision of the Baku Court of Appeal of 12 March 2015

Decision of the Supreme Court of 2 June 2015

50722/15

01/10/2015

Gulsara HASANOVA

1982Barda

Babak LAZIMZADE

1992Barda

Yashar AGAZADEH

“Support to Development of Regional Youths and Women ’ s Initiatives” Association (“ Region Gənclərinin İnkişafına və Qadın Təşəbbüslərinə Dəstək ”) was founded in 2013.

The Ministry of Justice returned the documents four times (on 26 July and 20 December 2013, 10 April and 22 September 2014).

Decision of the Baku Administrative Economic Court no. 1 of 17 December 2014

Decision of the Baku Court of Appeal of 24 February 2015

Decision of the Supreme Court of 9 June 2015