Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova said as she was opening a scheduled plenary sitting of the parliament on 26 April that an event of tremendous importance for the life of our country and nation had occurred a few days ago – that, namely, the 5^th World Azerbaijani Congress had been held in Azerbaijan’s cultural capital of Shusha. It is rather symbolic that the congress had been called the Congress of Victory and had been placed in the town where the last battles of the 44 days’ Patriotic War had been fought, Mrs Gafarova pointed out.

That assembly, the one that had taken place in Shusha, had reaffirmed the leadership of the Azerbaijan Republic in the South Caucasus as much as it had the conversion of the Azerbaijani people to a finely-organised force capable of having its way and, lastly, it had proven, again, the invariable support that that force had for its own state. And, today, the attention of the world is riveted on Azerbaijan as a centre of power that defines the geopolitical and geoeconomic panoramas of the region.

The president of the Azerbaijan Republic Mr Ilham Aliyev had delivered a substantive and profound programme speech at that congress. In that speech, he had covered the events the most important for every Azerbaijani person whilst also having set the main tasks for the future. The esteemed president had said once more, speaking as the leader of the victorious nation and the triumphant state, ‘We have destroyed the Fascism. We have rescued the South Caucasus from it… We’re on our land, on which we stand firmly so that nobody can ever make us budge from this soil.’

Next, Sahiba Gafarova gave a brief account of last week’s meetings and visits of importance for the progress of the international relations.

The delegation of the Milli Majlis she had led had been in Georgia on an official visit on 19-20 April. They had gone to the monument to our National Leader in the Heydar Aliyev Park in Tbilisi and on 19 April there had been conversations with Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia Shalva Papuashvili, President Salome Zurabishvili, PM Irakli Garibashvili and the Georgia-Azerbaijan inter-parliamentary friendship group. The conversers had recalled the input of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev in the progress of the Azerbaijani-Georgian friendship and the successful continuation of those efforts by the president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the Georgian leaders. The two sides had shared in the satisfaction with their efficient interaction in various areas and had stressed the special role both legislatures played in the deepening of our relations and of exchanging parliamentary delegation visits.

At those meetings, Sahiba Gafarova had been telling about the termination by Azerbaijan of the thirty-year-long Armenian occupation of her lands and restoration of her territory as well as the resulting new realia and opportunities particular to the post-war era in the South Caucasus. Mrs Gafarova had thanked Georgia for her support and fair stance during the war. The talks in the Georgian capital had also revolved round other matters of concern to either side.

That visits had had other highlights as well. For instance, our delegation had called at the embassy of Azerbaijan in Tbilisi and gone to the Heroes’ Memorial, the Azerbaijani Culture Museum bearing the name of the outstanding Azerbaijani man of letters and public figure Mirza Fatali Akhundov and the Georgian National Museum.  

The outcomes of the visit had been successful, Madame Speaker concluded before thanking every member of that delegation for the contribution made to that success.

The leader of the Azerbaijani parliament also told the assembly of her conversation with the president of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov who had been in Baku on an official visit. They had discussed the amity and fraternity between our nations standing since the ancient times having set new standards in the independence period, the significance of the Strategic Partnership Declaration, the Memorandum of Inception of the Inter-State and other documents signed by the leaders of the two countries, the pleasing state of the current inter-parliamentary relations and the efficient interaction – bilateral as well as multilateral. Mrs Gafarova and Mr Japarov had also talked over other subjects of interest to both the Azerbaijani and the Kyrgyz sides, Sahiba Gafarova remarked whilst concluding her opening speech.

The issues du jour were discussed then.  The parliamentary committee chairman Zahid Oruj and the MPs Vahid Ahmadov, Malahat Ibrahimghizi, Tahir Karimli, Ilham Mammadov, Ali Masimli, Jeyhun Mammadov, Bahrouz Maharramov, Jala Aliyeva and Elman Nasirov had found it necessary to share their thoughts to that end.

They commented on the recent 5^th World Azerbaijani Congress held in Shusha and participated by President Ilham Aliyev. The parliamentarians said they were glad and proud that the assembly had been held in our cultural capital freed by the glorious army of Azerbaijan led by the victorious Commander-in-Chief. The talkers also underlined the importance of the ideas and goals put across in the speech of the Head of State. Besides, the parliamentarians emphasised the historic significance of the congress in Shusha which they said was going to make the ties of the country with the compatriots living beyond its boundaries tighter still. The post-war realia in the region and the handling of the new tasks that stand before Azerbaijan will boost the national reputation in the international arena further, in the opinion of the MPs.

The orators also touched on the global economic crisis, its impact on our country, the efforts to eliminate that impact and to maintain national food security, solving the problems present in the banking sector and other currently important issues.

Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova let the House know then that the agenda consisted of 19 items and that Item 1 was about the annual report by the Chamber of Accounts of the Azerbaijan Republic.

That such annual reports are heard at the Milli Majlis is the crucial aspect of parliamentary control as well as a means of effective financial control over public funds, especially so as regards the efficiency of forming and expending the yearly state budget. The present report had been discussed thoroughly by the Economic policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee together with the members of the parliamentary political parties, according to Mrs Gafarova.

Next up, the chairman of the Chamber of Accounts Vugar Gulmammadov presented to the House the said report of his chamber for the year 2021.

Mr Gulmammadov told them that the report year had been marked by the relative stabilisation of the otherwise complicated global situation and the gradual recovery from the economic recession. As for our country, to her it was also the year of restoration and rebuilding of the territories liberated after the combat victory won by our Army led by the Commander-in-Chief. That meant a yet greater kind of responsibility for the Chamber of Accounts that had been controlling the legality and proper targeting of public funds and property in the context of the public finance administration process.

The annual report which is brought before the legislative assembly and which marks the twentieth anniversary of the Chamber of Accounts, by the way, rests on the advanced international experience and conforms to the Law on the Chamber of Accounts, Mr Gulmammadov continued. The 2021 performance report is based on 2 totals and 9 interim results as per the strategic plan, the main goal of which is to convert the Chamber to a dependable supreme audit body that the State and its citizens could count on. It is for the first time in the reporting practice that the audit values and value chains are accompanied by the measurements of the effects of the audits conducted by the Chamber.

The report contains information about the shortcomings revealed by repeated audits of the organisations audited in the preceding years – such shortcomings had been eliminated through preventive actions. Also, the document indicates the suitability and sufficiency of the audit effects, naming also the inspected objects. Besides, there is the information about the positive trends observable in public funds.

Acting in line with its powers drawn legislatively, the Chamber had spent the report period drawing up 6 conclusive statements about the draft state budget and the off-budget state funds put together as well as about state budget performance. Those statements were intended for the concerned parliamentarians and the supervisory fund of the State Oil Fund alike. The recommendations contained therein are meant to strengthen the administration of public funds.

In addition, a document had been put together stating the findings of the SWOT analysis of the interaction between the Milli Majlis and the Chamber of Accounts; that had been based on the meticulous study of the cutting-edge interaction between parliaments and supreme audit bodies. The strengths and weaknesses had been considered with the use of the international practice toolbox. The findings of the report-year inspections pushed forth the on-going streamlining of the legal acts which regulate public funds’ administration. The shortfalls revealed by the audits and the causes of such shortfalls had been analysed with the analytical results presented in the 8 recommendations that had been submitted for the consideration of the Milli Majlis and the Cabinet of Ministers.

All the three forms of control stipulated in the Chamber of Accounts Law were in use last year; there were 42 audits, 2 monitoring sessions and 2 analytical jobs there. The external state financial control discharged by the Chamber had focused on state investments and procurements, financial reporting, state programmes, transport and road infrastructure in the real sector, the anti-COVID-19 allocations and, last but not least, improvement of the living conditions of the IDP and war veterans.

During the report period, the Chamber of Accounts had undertaken 4 VFM audits as well as 11 financial and 27 compliance ones. The first four had encompassed the agrarian competitiveness promotion project, the state programme of immovable historical and cultural heritage artefacts’ restoration and protection, forestry-related operations and the digitalisation of the education system. The accomplishment of the forecast goals had been established to complete satisfaction. The financial reporting had been done right and the total number of irregularities had declined compared with the precedent periods.

The financial violations revealed during the audits had added up to AZN 80.1 mn and the levies, in money and in kind, had concerned the total of AZN 35.7 mn of which AZN 30.8 mn had been recovered in 2021 and AZN 4.9 mn is to be returned this year, Mr Gulmammadov went on, adding that the relevant information was to be in the next annual report that the Chamber of Accounts would produce in due course.

The other financial irregularities consisted in failures to adhere to the targets defined in the Unified Budgetary Classification; such violations, found at 9 objects last year, had amounted to AZN 3.5 mn whereas the total controls had recovered AZN 32.0 mn in money, in kind and by substitution. At the same time, a further AZN 2.2 mn had been recovered against the damage dealt to the State on the force of the materials submitted to the law enforcement authorities.

The supreme audit bodies have a special role to play in countering corruption the world over and the Chamber of Accounts is of course no exception: it had continued its relevant efforts as planned during 2021; the files on two audits of that nature had been passed over to the prosecution authorities.

According to Mr Gulmammadov, the Chamber had stayed focused on keeping the citizens of the country content and 279 citizens’ applications had been collected during the year; 46.2% of those were about violations of rights and controlling undertakings at the applicants’ current and former places of work. To streamline the interaction with all the parties concerned, the Chamber had adopted a Communication Strategy and had organised press coverage of its opinion statements, performance reports and audits, all to make the public better informed of the work it did.

Vugar Gulmammadov concluded his presentation by outlining the tasks set for this year. He said that it was planned to audit the spending by the executive authorities of the public funds allocated towards the costs of restoring and rebuilding the de-occupied territories. Beside the earmarked state programmes’ performance assessment, the Chamber is to put on more performance audits of broader coverage. Also, it is planned to continue streamlining the Chamber’s methodological frameworks, speed up the digitalisation trends and broaden the connexions with the executive and the legislative authority branches through a string of specialised undertakings in order to increase the yield of the Chamber’s own work.

Once Mr Gulmammadov had been done with his report, the chairman of the Milli Majlis Economic policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee Tahir Mirkishili presented the committee’s conclusion regarding that report. Mr Mirkishili said that the 2021 report encompassed the external state financial controls provided for by the Chamber’s 2021 work plan and carried out as planned. Also, the document covers the work done in accordance with the budgetary legislation; it contains other information about the current operations of the Chamber in 2021 as well. Furthermore, the document brought before the parliament is informative as regards the auditing, analytical and monitoring activities of the Chamber in the reported period. For the first time, it tells of the execution of the recommendations that the Chamber had given at various times as well as it does of the audit value chains and of the MPs’ having attended the collegial sessions of the Chamber.

The year 2021 had seen economic upheaval in all the areas with the GDP, the non-oil GDP and the non-oil industrial outputs having risen by 5.6%, 7.2% and 20% respectively, the committee chairman continued. The surplus of the current account of the balance of payments made US$ 8.3 bn. AZN 800.8 mn was spent on countering the COVID-19 pandemic. The state budget revenues at AZN 26,396 bn were AZN 1 bn up on the forecast AZN 25,427 bn whereas the expenditures, which had reached AZN 27,422 bn, had made 96.1% of the annual projection and marked an increase by AZN 1 bn from 2020. Those figures sustain a claim of the potential expansion of the Chamber’s work scope during 2021.

Also for the first time, the parliamentary committee had prepared 10 indicators for a more professional and inclusive assessment of the work done by the Chamber of Accounts. Those are the performance status indicator pertaining to the obligations subject to the Chamber of Accounts Law, the ISSAI standards implementation status indicator, the indicator of the net weight of research before audit in the overall work done by the Chamber, the performance audits’ share of the total audits indicator, the share of e-audits in the total audits indicator, the indicator of the degree of detail, credibility, timeliness, balance and accommodation of audit reports, the indicator of the previous recommendations’ performance status, the share of identified violations in the aggregate fiscal volumes, the degree of the reports’ public openness, the HR potential reinforcement indicator and that of professional training increase. The members of the parliamentary committee had assessed the information contained in the report by the Chamber using those indicators in the main. The report’s description of the Chamber’s operational strengths and weaknesses had provided for a fruitful discussion of same, according to Mr Mirkishili.

The committee chairman mentioned approvingly the fact that 70% of the Chamber’s work had been done digitally, adding that the audit reports that the Chamber had been presenting during the year had stood out for their high degree of detail as well as credibility, fine balance and accessibility. It was further added that their publication in the State Audit Journal was going to ensure a high extent of their openness to the public. It is equally commendable that a lot of space in the report is dedicated to international co-operation models in staff training.

For the first time, again, the annual report contains a list of the state authorities in receipt of favourable financial audit conclusions with the Milli Majlis topping the list. The committee chairman stressed that that was a mark given to the transparency and efficiency of the work done by the parliamentary leadership.

Comments, remarks and proposals came from the committee heads Ganira Pashayeva and Siyavush Novruzov as well as the MPs Gudrat Hasanguliyev, Rashad Mahmudov, Ali Masimli, Musa Gasimli, Soltan Mammadov, Vahid Ahmadov, Naghif Hamzayev and Vugar Bayramov. The chairman of the Chamber of Accounts Vugar Gulmammadov responded to their comments and questions and then, the 2021 report by his office was noted duly.

The parliamentary meeting in plenary continued.

Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova announced that the next six agenda items were the Bills in the third reading.

First, the chairman of the Defence, Security and Counter-Corruption Committee Ziyafet Asgarov gave the House an overview of the two interrelated documents, which were the draft amendments to the Narcological Service and the Narcological Control Law and a set of amendments to the laws ‘On the Status of Military Personnel’, ‘On the Circulation of Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and their Precursors’ and ‘On the Military Duty and Service’ as well as to the Internal Service Statute of the Armed Forces of the Azerbaijan Republic enacted by the law No 887 of the Azerbaijan Republic dated 23 September 1994.

The documents offer the legal grounds for introduction of compulsory narcological testing of citizens belonging to these certain categories: active military service conscripts (will be inspected whilst conscripted), the active military service personnel (will be inspected at least once a year), voluntary officers (will be inspected before the relevant orders are signed off) and contractees (before contracted).

The House had listened to the favourable opinion statements by the Health Committee and the Law Policy and State-Building Committee before voting both Bills through the third reading one after another.

Nizami Safarov of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee tabled the draft amendments to the Criminal Code which he said would introduce sterner penalties for illegal acquisition, storage and production of narcotics, psychotropes and their precursors in especially large quantities with the intent to sell, and for the related offences addressed in the other articles of the Code.

After that, MP Safarov provided an overview of the amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences, drawn up subject to the said amendments to the Criminal Code and unifying in nature. Except in this instance the aforementioned offences would entail administrative penalties rather than criminal prosecution.

Furthermore, MP Safarov brought before the House a set of amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure. It is proposed, as a means to tighten the trafficking and addiction counteraction, to destroy or transfer to appropriate offices for subsequent medical use such narcotics, psychotropes and precursors as well as other high-potency substances that are seized and removed from trafficking as body of evidence supporting pre-trial criminal proceedings. Such material evidence will also be either destroyed or relegated for medical use where their quantities exceed the ‘especially large amount’ bottom limit set for such substances legislatively.

The favourable opinion statement of the Health Committee had been heard before the Milli Majlis voted for the amendments in the third reading.

MP Nurlan Hasanov of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee came up with the amendments to the Criminal Code that are set to lift the limitation as to what subjects are prosecutable for violation of the repatriation requirement for FX amounts exceeding AZN 20,000 and derived from foreign economic operations (of such subjects). Once the amendments are passed into law, physical and legal persons alike will be prosecutable for such misdeeds.

The Bill was voted through the third reading.

Then came the turn of the Bills lined up for one reading only. Their presentation began after the intermission in the plenary sitting.

The chairman of the Defence, Security and Counter-Corruption Committee Ziyafet Asgarov told the House about the draft amendments to the Frontier Authorities Law and mentioned the modification of the presidential decree of 12 December 2002 approving the Charter and structure of the State Frontier Service of the Azerbaijan Republic with the intention of raising the quality of border control and protection. The modification done pursuant to the presidential decree of 23 April 2021 had had the new armed unit called the Special Airborne Operations Force formed within the State Frontier Service, which is why it is now necessary to adjust the articles 1 and 24 of the Frontier Authorities Law accordingly now.

The Bill was voted in.

The chairman of the Sciences and Education Committee Bakhtiyar Aliyev е tabled the amendments to the Vocational Education Law, drafted in accordance with the presidential decree of 11 November 2021 modifying the presidential decree of 14 February 2019 ‘On the Provision of Scholarships to Doctoral, Tertiary, Secondary Special and Vocational Students as well as the Master’s Students of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences’. The amendments, now, are to introduce a performance-based system of allowances in vocational education as well as to regulate the extension of allowances to full-time vocational students based on consideration of their marks for every six-month period.

The MPs Vugar Bayramov, Etibar Aliyev, Musa Gasimli, Tural Ganjaliyev, Fatma Yildirim and Rufat Guliyev felt it necessary to let the House know what they thought about the Bill, which was then voted in duly.

First Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis/chairman of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Ali Huseynli tabled the first-reading amendments to the Law ‘On Shusha – the Cultural Capital of Azerbaijan’ and a set of amendments to the City-Planning and Construction Code of Azerbaijan c/w the laws ‘On Business Enterprising’, ‘On Protection of the Historical and Cultural Heritage’, ‘On Physical Culture and Sports’, ‘On Culture’ and ‘On Advertising’ (all in the first reading, too).

The Bills, both submitted by the president of the republic, had been discussed in every particular aspect at the joint virtual meeting of four parliamentary committees; the current year had been declared had the Year of Shusha and many events were organised therefore, nationally as well as internationally, Mr Huseynli was saying.

It is proposed to add a new Article 3-1 to the Law ‘On Shusha – the Cultural Capital of Azerbaijan’ – that article would impose the special rules of using the name of Shusha. In the cases provided for therein, the Town of Shusha State Preserve would hold the exclusive rights over its name as cited as well as over the official title ‘Shusha’. Using the word ‘Shusha’ in corporate names – including those of mass media – and in names of local, national or international awards and decorations including sporting and other contests, concerts, festivals, exhibitions, conferences and seminars, as well as using the said word for commercial or advertising purposes, in trademarks and toponyms would only be allowed upon the consent of the institution designated by the appropriate executive authority. At the same time, for the purposes of complete protection of all heritage situated in the town of Shusha, it is proposed to delete the description ‘archaeological’ from the law’s Article 7-5.

According to Ali Huseynli, it is necessary to make a number of unifying amendments to several other laws therefore.

As he commented on this topic, the chairman of the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee Tahir Mirkishili mentioned the amendments to the Business Enterprising Law that would ban several kinds of business operations from Shusha. Besides, the wording ‘or prohibition of its individual kinds’ would be added in Article 5 of the said law.

The chair of the Culture Committee Ganira Pashayeva said that the tangible heritage of Shusha required an especially meticulous and sensitive kind of care, so, it was appropriate that the word ‘archaeological’ would be deleted from Article 7.5 as suggested.

Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis/chairman of the Youth and Sports Committee Adil Aliyev mentioned the harmonising nature of the amendments to the Physical Culture and Sports Law. He added that his parliamentary committee seconded the amendments.

The amendments to the other laws already mentioned were unifying in nature as well.

Comments came from the committee chairman Siyavush Novruzov and the MPs Fazail Agamali, Elshad Mirbashir oglu, Mahir Abbaszade and Arzu Naghiyev. Ali Huseynli clarified some matters they had touched upon.

Then, the aforesaid Bills were voted through the first reading one by one.

MP Vugar Bayramov of the Labour and Social Policy Committee then tabled the first-reading amendments to the Law Code. Part 1 of Article 49 regulates conclusion of employment contracts as well as such contracts coming into force and being terminated; still, since only one of those cases is mentioned in the title of the article, the very title needs correcting, according to MP Bayramov.

In certain cases associated with unincorporated employers it is necessary to terminate the employment contracts they had concluded and notified to the relevant electronic data system. But this is not feasible because it is the competence of an employer to terminate an employment contract. Consequently, an employee who cannot be contracted by another employer has his/her rights infringed upon; this naturally causes indignation and leads to litigations. It is to resolve this that it is proposed to enter certain addenda in Article 74 of the Labour Code. Also, it is proposed to add the new Part 5 to Article 49 to delegate the authority to terminate employment contract notifications (upon an employee’s application in connexion with the said circumstances) to the authority responsible for the state control over enforcement of the national labour legislation.

In parallel, it is stipulated in the amendments to Article 74 that termination of an employment contract being recognised will not relieve parties to labour relations – nor will this circumstance do successors to a deceased unincorporated employer – from their respective obligations imposed upon them pursuant to the labour legislation. The amendment to Article 87, then, will regulate the appropriate entries in an employee’s record by the aforementioned executive authority, which entries would be made on the effect of the employee’s application(s) for recognition of the said employment contract as terminated.

MP Razi Nurullayev and MP Kamila Aliyeva voiced their comments. MP Vugar Bayramov replied to them. Then, the Bill was voted for in the first reading.

Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova announced after that that the next four items on the agenda had arrived from the president of the country in one parcel and were close thematically.

The head of the Labour and Social Policy Committee Musa Guliyev told the House about the first-reading amendments to the Retirement Pensions Law, which, he noted, had been drawn up and was now up for consideration in continuation of the in-depth social reforms carried out under the guidance of the Head of State Ilham Aliyev. The amendments are intended to streamline the existing legislative frameworks and ensure the continued embedment of the social insurance principle in the pensions system. Besides, the draft would address the tasks of terminological clarification and harmonisation in the context of legal regulation and legislative techniques. There are 43 amendments to 10 articles of the law in question, according to Mr Guliyev.

Mr Guliyev supplied the Assembly with the exhaustive explanations about the amendments. He told them that the Bill contained provisions about aligning the pension age for men and women, raising the allowance paid to families with many children, simpler retirement conditions, broader frameworks to govern transitions from one type of pension to another and, lastly, early retirement. In addition, the provisions of the document encompass raises (through conversion, on the basis of the ultimate value of service) of the pensions paid to persons bearing military ranks who joined the Forces upon retirement, also, reinforcement of the social care of the people left without heads of their families, and disbursement of pensions for the gaps between when a wage earner (head of family) is granted the shahid’s status and when the corresponding allowance was filed for.   

Once Mr Guliyev was finished, the House turned to the next agenda item as the deputy chair of the Labour and Social Policy Committee Malahat Ibrahimghizi introduced the first reading of the amendments to the Social Benefits Law, which, she explained, were to ensure harmony between it and the amendments to the Retirement Pensions Law. One of the amendments tabled by Mrs Ibrahimghizi consist in granting allowances to disabled persons younger than the age of 18 regardless of whether they are in receipt of other dole. The other amendment envisages an allowance where a pension already had or to be had by anybody proves less than another social benefit of which he/she is in receipt already.

The deputy chairman of the Health Committee Rashad Mahmudov told the House about the amendments (first reading) to the Oncological Aid Law and the Law ‘On the State Care of Multiple Sclerosis Patients’. Those, too, had been prepared to adjust the said laws to the amendments to the Retirement Pension Law and the Social Benefits Law – ultimately, that is, to strengthen the social protection of the people who suffer from the cited diseases.

Ali Huseynli gave an overview of the first-reading amendments to the Law ‘On Serving in the Justice Authorities’, again, meant to align this law with the amendments to the Retirement Pensions Law. The latter defines the pensions of the retired Penitentiary Service officers and their family members as well as of civilians retained by penitentiary institutions for the jobs specified in the list of industries, occupations, positions and indicators with the privileged old-age retirement pensions (the list is sanctioned by the appropriate executive authority).

Remarks and suggestions were heard from the MPs Razi Nurullayev and Fazail Agamali. Deputy Minister for Labour and Social Protection Anar Karimov shed light on the matters the law-makers had pinpointed.

After that, all the four Bills were voted through the first reading one after another.

Then, MP Mahir Abbaszade of the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee set forth the essence of the first-reading amendments to the Tax Code. They, he told the House, envisaged a five-year exemption from the profit tax of physical persons’ dividends and interest earnings on shares and bonds IPO-ed in regulated markets. The exemption would hold with the effect from 1 February 2023. It is also proposed to introduce a unified taxation mechanism for corporate interest returns.

Having listened to the commentary by the committee chairman Siyavush Novruzov, the parliamentarians voted for passing the amendments in the first reading.

The chairman of the Sciences and Education Committee Bakhtiyar Aliyev said, as he was talking about the thematically interlinked first-reading amendments to the General Education Law, that the Bill would divide the general education institutions into the general-type and boarding ones, and that it would also group them as being of general purpose, of integrated education and of special education. The Bill introduces the relevant concepts. On the whole, the amendments are chiefly to equalise disabled students with non-disabled ones at all the tiers of the education system and offer the former a system of education that would be free of any hurdles.

Mr Aliyev also covered the first-reading amendments to the laws ‘On the (Special) Education for Disabled Persons’ and ‘On Education’, remarking that those two draft sets would harmonise the said laws with the amendments to the General Education Law. By concretising the types and forms of educational institutions and levelling both laws in the regulatory terms, the two Bills will generate special conditions for joint education of disabled and non-disabled people thus ensuring social adaptation of the former through instilling them with the necessary knowledge, abilities and skills.

The House voted those Bills through the first reading upon hearing what the committee chair Hijran Huseynova and MP Elshad Mirbashir oglu had to say about them.

And today’s plenum of the Milli Majlis was over.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis