Abstract
The period of continuing political and economic instability following Azerbaijan’s independence from the Soviet Union has resulted in limited progress in state building, democratization and the construction of the rule of law. The usual challenges facing transition countries have been compounded by, among other things, the ongoing conflict over Nagorno Karabakh and the difficulties faced in managing oil reserves.1 However, a great incentive to make democratic and legal progress is the possibility of closer ties with Europe. This chapter outlines the state of the rule of law and democratization in Azerbaijan today and considers prospects for reform through dialogue with Europe. In this regard, it focuses on Azerbaijan’s relationship with the European Union (EU), but also considers other aspects of the European relationship, including Azerbaijan’s membership in the Council of Europe.
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Notes
On the Nagorno Karabkah conflict generally, see T. de Waal, Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan through Peace and War (New York: New York University Press, 2003).
On the question of oil, see Y. Kalyuzhnova, A. Mayers Jaffe, D. Lynch and R. Sickles, eds, Energy in the Caspian Region: Present and Future (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001).
See T. Swietochowski, Russia and Azerbaijan: a Borderland in Transition (New York: Columbia University Press, 1995), pp. 5–10.
As Freedom House puts it: ‘Laws are often vague, and only implementing decrees are more specific. There is no official outlet for publicizing changes in laws … There is little public knowledge of laws that affect commercial activities, and such laws are rarely applied.’ See Freedom House, Nations in Transit 1998 (1998), p. 99. Available at http://freedomhouse.org/research/nattransit.htm.
See Freedom House, Nations in Transit 2003 (2003), p. 115. Available at http://freedomhouse.org/research/nattransit.htm.
US Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Country Report on Human Rights Practices, Azerbaijan (25 February 2004). Available at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41670.htm.
Freedom House, Nations in Transit 2001 (2001). Available at http://freedomhouse.org/research/nattransit.htm.
International Crisis Group Europe Report, Azerbaijan: Turning Over a New Leaf?, Baku/Brussels (13 May 2004), p. 31. Available at http://www.icg.org/home/index.cfm?id=2752.l=1.
OSCE/ODIHR, Final Report on the Presidential Election (15 October 2003). Available at http://www.osce.org/documents/odihr/2003/11/1151_en.pdf.
OSCE/ODIHR and Venice Commission, Joint Final Assessment of the Election Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Opinion # 214/2002, Strasbourg/Warsaw (1 September 2003). Available at http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/ field_activities/2003azerbaijan/az_asmelcode.pdf.
OSCE/ODIHR, Republic of Azerbaijan Presidential Elections, Needs Assessment Report (24 July 2003), p. 2.
Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper, Azerbaijan: Presidential Elections 2003 (13 October 2003), p. 22. Available at http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/eca/ azerbaijan/3.htm.
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, CoE Parliamentary Assembly, OSCE/ODIHR, Joint Press Release, Azerbaijan voting generally orderly, but electoral process still short of international standards in several respects (16 October 2003).
On the legal aspects of the pipeline generally, see C. P. M. Waters, ‘Governance and the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan Pipeline’, Georgetown International Environmental Law Review, 16 (2004), p. 403.
Human Rights Watch, Azerbaijan: Media, the Presidential Elections and the Aftermath (4 August 2004), p. 8. Available at http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/eca/azerbaijan/2004/index.htm.
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© 2005 Gulara Guliyeva
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Guliyeva, G. (2005). Democratization and the Rule of Law in Azerbaijan: Europe’s Relevance. In: Waters, C.P.M. (eds) The State of Law in the South Caucasus. Euro-Asian Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230506015_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230506015_3
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