14.11.2022

Plenum of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan, chaired by Farhad Abdullayev, held a session via the written procedure of special constitutional proceedings.

At the court session was examined the constitutional case based on the request submitted by the Court of Appeal of Ganja city on the related interpretation of Articles 177 and 178 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan in terms of Part I of Article 25 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Articles 318 and 391.8-1 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Having heard the report of Judge C.Qaracayev, studied and discussed reports of representatives of interested parties – Chairman of the Criminal Board of the Court of Appeal of Ganja city T.Mukhtarov and Head of the State Building, Administrative and Military Legislation Department of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) of the Republic of Azerbaijan H.M.Seyid, conclusions of specialists – Chairman of the Criminal Board of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan H. Nasibov, Head of the Department of Legal Support and Human Rights Issues of the General Prosecutor's Office A.Osmanova the Plenum of Constitutional Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan adopted decision.

The decision states that in cases where the acts expressed in deception aimed at obtaining a payment card are carried out in order to facilitate access to funds for the purpose of secret theft, this act should be qualified not as fraud in accordance with Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, but as theft in accordance with Article 177 of the same Code.

According to the meaning of Article 318 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, if the presence of signs of a more serious crime is determined in the actions of the accused during the trial, the court cannot make a decision to aggravate the charge on its own initiative.

According to the requirements of Article 391.8-1 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the court of appeal instance may decide to return the case to the court of first instance if there is an appropriate protest against the accusation of a more serious crime compared to the previous accusation.

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.