ECHR: Yalchin Imanov's Disbarment Was Unlawful

Yalchin Imanov

On October 7, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) delivered a judgment on the complaint of Azerbaijani lawyer Yalchin Imanov regarding his exclusion from the country's Bar Association.

The decision recalls that on November 20, 2017, the Presidium of the Azerbaijani Bar Association filed a lawsuit to terminate Imanov's legal activity based on a complaint from the leadership of the Penitentiary Service.

The reason for punishing the lawyer was his public disclosure of a complaint about torture in prison suffered by his client, Abbas Huseynov, the deputy chairman of the "Muslim Unity" Movement.

The Penitentiary Service viewed this as a "blow to its reputation." While Huseynov's torture complaint was not objectively investigated, the Ganja Administrative-Economic Court terminated the legal practice of his defense lawyer, Imanov, on February 22, 2019.

The ECHR, having investigated the circumstances of Imanov's complaint, established that the lawyer's statements to the press concerned an issue of public interest.

In its verdict, the Strasbourg Court notes that "lawyers play a role as intermediaries between the public and the courts in the administration of justice," and "this status gives them a special guarantee of freedom of expression."

The ECHR noted that the national courts failed to consider the public importance of the lawyer's statements and the necessity of investigating his claims about the use of torture.

The Strasbourg Court's decision emphasizes that deprivation of lawyer status is the most severe disciplinary sanction and that this measure contradicts the principle of proportionality.

The ECHR found that the Government of Azerbaijan violated Article 10 (freedom of expression) and Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence) of the European Convention on Human Rights, in the context of interference with professional activity.

The Strasbourg Court ordered the payment of 10,000 EUR to the lawyer as compensation for non-pecuniary damage and 2,000 EUR for reimbursement of legal costs.

In August 2017, Yalchin Imanov informed the media that Abbas Huseynov, the deputy head of the "Muslim Unity" Movement convicted in the "Nardaran case," had been subjected to torture in prison. After visiting the prisoner, the defense lawyer noticed numerous bruises and injuries on his body. Following this, the Penitentiary Service lodged a complaint with the Bar Association, which decided to suspend Imanov's legal powers. Azerbaijani courts upheld the Bar Association's decision.