30.07.2024

Plenum of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan, chaired by Farhad Abdullayev, held a regular session.

At the court session was examined the constitutional case based on the inquiry of the Baku Court of Appeal on interpretation of Articles 1193 and 1194 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan in connection with Articles 372, 373, 1166, 1202.2 and 1255 of that Code in terms of Part I of Article 17, Parts I and VII of Article 29 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Having heard the report of Judge C.Qaracayev, studied and discussed the report of interested parties – Baku Court of Appeal and Staff of the Milli Majlis (Parliament), the conclusions of specialists – Supreme Court, Collegium of Advocates, Center for Legal Expertise and Legislative Initiatives, opinion of expert – Associate professor of the Department of Civil Law, Faculty of Law, Baku State University, Doctor of Philosophy in Law S.Suleymanli, Professor of International Economic Law and Comparative Law at Martin Luther Halle-Wittenberg University A.Aliyev and doctoral candidate within the joint doctoral project of Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy and Martin Luther Halle-Wittenberg University N.Rasulzadeh, the Plenum of Constitutional Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan adopted decision.

The decision states that in terms of the legal essence and purpose of Article 17, Part I, Article 29, Parts I and VII of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan the compulsory share in the inheritance defined by Article 1193 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the compulsory share of the inheritance of the children, parents and wife (husband) of the testator, regardless of the content of the will, forming an inviolable part of the inheritance by law.

Since Articles 1246 and 1273-1 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which determine the special acceptance condition and period for the right of inheritance, are considered invalid based on the Decision of the Plenum of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated December 26, 2023 and in accordance with the legal positions reflected in the explanatory part of this Decision, the acceptance of the mandatory share does not depend on any specific acceptance period.

In accordance with Article 384.0.4 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the legal positions reflected in the descriptive-justifying part of this Decision, the limitation period does not apply to the right to demand a compulsory share.

In order to ensure the stability of civil circulation, this Decision should be applied to the inheritance relations that will arise after its entry into force and to the cases of disputes that are currently pending in the courts.

The decision comes into force from the date of its publication, is final, and may not be cancelled, changed or officially interpreted by any institution or official.