In a new report issued on Monday, the International Commission of Jurists confirmed that the rights of Artsakh leaders who were tried by a military court in Baku were compromised and the court proceedings “fell short of the guarantees of fairness and equality of arms required under international human rights law.”
The report entitled, “Justice Under Pressure: Independence of Lawyers and the Right to a Fair Trial in Azerbaijan,” found that “the independence of the legal profession in Azerbaijan remains compromised by executive control and influence over the Bar Association, discriminatory admission practices, the punitive use of disciplinary proceedings, and the harassment and prosecution of independent lawyers.”
“These deficiencies, together with the lack of independence of the judiciary, deprive defendants in criminal proceedings of the substantive protections that the right to a fair trial requires under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights,” the ICJ said.
The detailed report exposes structural and institutional flaws Azerbaijan’s entire justice system and takes the trial of Artsakh leaders as a case study “reflecting wider issues in the administration of justice” in the country.
The ICJ found that Artsakh leaders “were tried before a military court; that defendants were denied effective access to counsel of their choosing; that case materials were withheld or provided in a language the accused did not understand; that defense motions were dismissed without reasoning and omitted from the trial record; that interpretation was inadequate or absent; and that public access, including by accredited diplomatic representatives, was denied.”
“The cases were transferred to the Baku Military Court, even though at least eight of thedefendants were civilians, and therefore should only be tried in ordinary, not military courts, in accordance with international law and standards,” the ICJ report said.
“According to publicly available reports, these trials are marked by practices that violate basic guarantees of justice ‘a fundamentally unfair procedural situation has been created, where the defense is deprived of any realistic opportunity to contest the charges or prove innocence. In such conditions, the very concept of a fair trial turns into a formality, devoid of any content,” the report said citing an investigative piece published in January, 2025 by the French Le Monde newspaper.
“The trials were conducted largely behind closed doors, with only State media permitted access; international observers, foreign media and family members of the defendants were denied access to the hearings,” the report said.
“The ICJ report confirms what the Armenian Legal Center and many human rights advocates/organizations have long warned: the proceedings against the former Artsakh leaders are not credible judicial proceedings, but politically driven trials taking place in a justice system where judicial independence, access to counsel, and basic fair trial guarantees are fundamentally compromised,” Ken Hachikian, the chair of the Armenian Legal Center told Asbarez on Monday.
“Azerbaijan cannot use the language of law to legitimize the unlawful detention and punishment of Armenian hostages and POWs. Nothing short of the immediate and unconditional release of all Armenian prisoners illegally held by Azerbaijan can remedy the injustice documented in this report,” Hachikian added.
Regarding the separate trial of former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, the ICJ report pointed out that charges brought against the defendant dated back to 1988, when Vardanyan did not hold office in Artsakh.
“Vardanyan assumed public functions in Nagorno-Karabakh in late 2022, yet the prosecution brought charges dating back to 1988 in connection with the first Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, despite evidence that at the time he was a student at Moscow State University,” the ICJ report revealed.
:The prosecution of Vardanyan for conduct alleged to have occurred in 1988, more than three decades before his assumption of public office, raises fundamental concerns under the principle of legality. Vardanyan held no political position at the time the charges relate to and could not have foreseen that conduct from that era would form the basis of criminal charges upon his later entry into political office,” the report added.
“The temporal distance between the alleged conduct and prosecution, combined with the timing of charges brought only after Vardanyan assumed a leadership position in a political dispute, suggests application of criminal law in an arbitrary manner. The principle of legality requires that criminal liability be foreseeable and that criminal law be applied with precision and clarity, not selectively against individuals based on their subsequent political activities,” the report explained.
The report presents a number of recommendations to the executive authorities, the prosecution, the judicial authorities, and the parliament of Azerbaijan. The judicial authorities are urged to: “Ensure that any appeal in the cases of the former Nagorno-Karabakh officials is heard by an ordinary civilian court. Ensure the provision of case materials to the defence in a language the accused understands and ensure adequate time and facilities for the preparation of the defence in all proceedings, including on appeal.”
The report also calls on the Council of Europe to seek access in order to monitor any potential appeal hearings.
In the conclusion of the report, the ICJ has urged Azerbaijani authorities “to ensure that the Azerbaijan Bar Association operates as a genuinely independent self-governing body, to cease reprisals against lawyers representing clients in politically sensitive cases, to reinstate lawyers disbarred in violation of international law and standards, including those whose disbarments the European Court of Human Rights has found to violate Convention rights, and to ensure that all defendants have effective access to counsel of their choosing at all stages of the proceedings, including on appeal.”
Background
The ICJ has engaged with the independence of the legal profession in Azerbaijan over the past decade. Its 2016 report Defenceless Defenders: Systemic Problems in the Legal Profession in Azerbaijan documented executive interference in the work of lawyers and in the functioning of the Azerbaijan Bar Association, and its 2018 briefing paper analysed legislation restricting court representation. The present report is based on research from open sources, including judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and reports of United Nations and Council of Europe bodies, and on interviews with legal professionals and human rights lawyers from Azerbaijan, conducted in 2025.
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is a non-governmental organization of leading judges and lawyers from around the world working to advance the rule of law and realization of human rights for all. The Commissioners are 60 eminent judges and lawyers – from all parts of the world and all legal systems. They are selected for their experience, knowledge and fundamental commitment to human rights. They support the work of our legal teams to strengthen and implement international standards, improving legislation that has positively impacted the lives of millions of people.