On May 3, in honor of the 96^th anniversary of Heydar Aliyev, the national leader of our people, the architect and founder of the modern independent Azerbaijan and the author of our first national Constitution, the scientific conference with the organization of the Constitutional Court, the Academy of Sciences, Institute of Law and Human Rights and lawyers of the Black and Caspian seas on the theme “Theoretical and practical approaches to the protection of human rights and freedoms in the 21^st century” was held at the “Pullman” Hotel.

Speaking at the event, Chairman of Constitutional Court Farhad Abdullayev spoke about the multifaceted activities of national leader Heydar Aliyev, his unique historical services in the development of Azerbaijan and the strengthening of national statehood, the great mission of liberation. Farhad Abdullayev noted that under the leadership of national leader Heydar Aliyev, who chose legal statehood as the main direction of its development, large-scale judicial and legal reforms were launched in a short time, a legal system inherited from the Soviet era, based on a new, democratic principle. Institutions have been established and significant progress has been made in the field of rapid integration into the international community.

Speaking about the rich state experience and political heritage of the great leader, F.Abdullayev said that the Constitution adopted in 1995 by a nationwide vote was consistent with the development of statehood in our country, the creation of a democratic, legal state, civil society and modern requirements of the legal system. Since the first days of its activity, the Constitutional Court, whose establishment in our country is connected with the name of the great leader, has constantly sought to improve the quality of its work by carrying out its duties with dignity.

It was also mentioned that as a result of policy implemented under the leadership of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, who has successfully continued the political line of national leader Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijan rapidly developing in all fields, occupies a worthy place in the international arena in a number of developed countries of the world. Judicial and legal reforms carried out in our country under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev serve to further strengthen of the law and order, promote more active integration of Azerbaijan into the world community and increasing its democratic image. Also, the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan signed of April 3, 2019 "On Deepening Reforms in the Judicial-Legal System" is an important step for a qualitatively new phase in the administration of justice, which gave a powerful impetus to the application of qualitatively new and important new approaches for society in the process of fair justice.

Director of Institute of Law and Human Rights Aytan Mustafazade spoke at the conference about the meaningful life and activity of the Great Leader. She noted that in all periods the activity of Heydar Aliyev, a prominent statesman who has always cared about the preservation of the national and spiritual values of our people, on the comprehensive development of culture, science and education has produced concrete results. It was also noted that the most important idea and purpose of the great leader was to preserve the independence of our state and to build a civil society aimed at protecting human rights.

The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Republic of Azerbaijan (Ombudsman) Elmira Suleymanova said that Heydar Aliyev emphasized that the development of society and the state is linked to respect for democracy and human rights, noting that human rights are the main criteria that unite society in the modern world. Under the leadership of Heydar Aliyev, who gives priority to time-tested universal values, a number of legal reforms have been launched to ensure human rights and freedoms. As a result of radical reforms and progressive measures laid by him in the sphere of human rights protection, our country has achieved great successes in a short period of time.

Representatives of Constitutional Court, Institute of Law and Human Rights of ANAS, Lawyers of the Black Sea and Caspian Region, Office of the Ombudsman, National Assembly, Ministry of Justice, Prosecutor General's Office, Baku State University and other eminent scholars and public figures in their speeches stressed that the name of Heydar Aliyev, a genius personality who ruled Azerbaijan at the end of the 20^th and beginning of the 21^st century, has been engraved in the history of our people as a great savior. Far-sighted steps taken during Heydar Aliyev's leadership in Azerbaijan, the strong social, cultural, economic and intellectual investments that have been laid in Azerbaijan have laid the groundwork for the future independence of the Azerbaijani people.

Summing up the conference, Farhad Abdullayev and Ombudsman Elmira Suleymanova especially noted that today, thanks to the purposeful activity of President Ilham Aliyev, the internal and foreign policy of Azerbaijan developing in all spheres, the creative activity that has nominated our republic to the ranks of influential countries of the world, are a continuation of the political heritage of the great leader Heydar Aliyev. It was underlined that our country has been successfully hosting numerous international political, cultural and sporting events in recent years, which is a clear manifestation of international confidence in Azerbaijan, and noted that large-scale events aimed at the welfare of our people will continue.