The Institute for Citizen Rights has prepared proposals for amendments to a number of laws in order to adapt the legislation of Azerbaijan on the prevention of domestic violence to the requirements in line with international human rights standards, in particular, the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women (Istanbul Convention) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
The proposed amendments to the legislation include the repeal and amendment of certain articles in the relevant laws and the addition of new articles to the laws. Additions and amendments are proposed to the Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence, the Presidential Decree on the implementation of this law, the Code of Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code, as well as the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Civil Procedure.
The additions and amendments are intended to provide better protection for victims of domestic violence, effectively punish perpetrators of violence, and to encourage the state to meet the obligations it has taken in this area.
The proposals include many other innovations, including the introduction of new concepts in the Main Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence. These innovations include general principles, such as the prohibition of discrimination and the protection of the confidentiality of whistleblowers, and the renewal of the protection order system to strengthen the protection of victims. The innovations include a clear list of the rights of victims in the law, increasing and clarifying the powers of the bodies handling appeals in this area, as well as expanding the scope of liability of perpetrators of violence and officials handling the appeals.
Furthermore, other legislative proposals envisage the criminalization of a number of acts of domestic violence and the implementation of special procedures to ensure that victims are not harmed a second time during the investigation of the case.
These proposed additions and amendments to the legislation have been published in a comparative table on the website of the Institute for Citizen Rights (www.vhi.az).
We invite all civil society organizations, experts in this field, lawyers and advocates, and all stakeholders working on the prevention of domestic violence, and gender-based violence against women to share their suggestions and comments on the amendments to the law with the Institute for Citizen Rights.
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