General Part

FIRST SECTION
Main Provisions

Chapter I
Legislation on criminal procedure

Article 4. Temporal scope of legislation on criminal procedure

4.3. During the trial, evidence shall be ruled admissible in accordance with the provisions of the legislation on criminal procedure of the Azerbaijan Republic which is in force at the time. If newly adopted provisions of the legislation on criminal procedure of the Azerbaijan Republic substantially change the conditions under which evidence is ruled admissible, evidence which is not in accordance with the new provisions may not be used in support of the charge.

General Part

FIRST SECTION
Main Provisions

Chapter II
Purposes and basic principles of criminal proceedings

Article 33. Assessment of evidence in criminal proceedings

33.1. During the proceedings the judges and jurors shall assess the evidence collected on the criminal case in accordance with the requirements of this Code.

33.2. In the course of the proceedings the provisions of Articles 125,144 and 145 of this Code may not be violated.

33.3. No advance decision shall be taken on any evidence or other material in the criminal proceedings.

33.4. Judges and jurors may not regard evidence or other materials unfavourably, or attach more importance to one piece of evidence or other item than to another, until they are examined under the statutory procedure.

General Part

SECTION THREE
EVIDENCE AND PROOF

Chapter XIV
EVIDENCE

Article 124. Concept and types of evidence

124.1. Reliable evidence (information, documents, other items) obtained by the court or the parties to criminal proceedings shall be considered as prosecution evidence. Such evidence :

124.1.1. shall be obtained in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Criminal Procedure, without restriction of constitutional human and civil rights and liberties or with restrictions on the grounds of a court decision (on the basis of the investigator‘s decision in the urgent cases described in this Code) ;
124.1.2. shall be produced in order to show whether or not the act was a criminal one, whether or not the act committed had the ingredients of an offence, whether or not the act was committed by the accused, whether or not he is guilty, and other circumstances essential to determining the charge correctly.

124.2. The following shall be accepted as evidence in criminal proceedings :

124.2.1. statements by the suspect, the accused, the victim and witnesses ;
124.2.2. the expert’s opinion ;
124.2.3. material evidence ;
124.2.4. records of investigative and court procedures ;
124.2.5. other documents.

General Part

SECTION THREE
EVIDENCE AND PROOF

Chapter XIV
EVIDENCE

Article 125. The availability of evidence

125.1. If there is no doubt as to the accuracy and source of the information, documents and other items and as to the circumstances in which they were obtained, they may be accepted as evidence.

125.2. Information, documents and other items shall not be accepted as evidence in a criminal case if they are obtained in the following circumstances :

125.2.1. if the accuracy of the evidence is or may be affected by the fact that the parties to the criminal proceedings are deprived of their lawful rights, or those rights are restricted, through violation of their constitutional human and civil rights and liberties or other requirements of this Code ;
125.2.2. through the use of violence, threats, deceit, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading
acts ;
125.2.3. through violation of the defence rights of the suspect or accused, or the rights of a person who does not know the language used in the criminal proceedings ;
125.2.4. where the rights and duties of a party to the criminal proceedings are not explained, or not explained fully and accurately and, as a result, he exercises them wrongly ;
125.2.5. where the criminal prosecution and investigative or other procedures are conducted by a person who does not have the right to do so ;
125.2.6. where a person whose participation should be objected to, and who knows or should know the reasons precluding his participation, takes part in the criminal proceedings ;
125.2.7. where the rules governing investigative or other procedures are seriously violated ;
125.2. 8. where the document or other item is taken from a person unable to recognise it or who cannot confirm its accuracy, its source and the circumstances of its acquisition ;
125.2.9. where evidence is taken from a person unknown at the trial or from an unknown source ;
125.2.10. where evidence is taken through means conflicting with modern scientific views.

125.3. Information, documents and other items taken in the circumstances described in Article 125.2. of this Code shall be regarded as invalid and may not be used to prove any circumstance with a view to determining a charge correctly.

125.4. Material obtained through the violations described in Article 125.2. of this Code may be used as evidence of the violations concerned and the guilt of those committing them.

125.5. After a violation of the requirements of the Code of Criminal Procedure by the prosecution, the material whose evidential value is deemed to have been lost may be accepted as evidence at the request of the defence. In this case, such evidence may not concern other participants in the proceedings, but only the relevant suspect or accused. Acceptance of this material as evidence shall not mean that its accuracy cannot be disputed.

125.6. Any complaint lodged or decision taken on any matter significant to the prosecution concerned shall only confirm the fact that the complaint was lodged or the procedural decision was taken and shall not be accepted as evidence.

125.7. The prosecuting authority shall determine, either on its own initiative or further to an application by the parties to the criminal proceedings, whether information, documents and other items may not be used as evidence during the criminal prosecution, and whether they may be put to limited use.

125.8. If evidence is obtained in accordance with the requirements of this Code, it shall be for the objecting party to demonstrate grounds for its refusal.

125.9. When a criminal case is examined by the jury, the court president shall produce the material which cannot be accepted as evidence, explain its lack of legal justification to the jurors and prevent an erroneous point of view from being adopted by the parties to the criminal proceedings.

General Part

SECTION THREE
EVIDENCE AND PROOF

Chapter XIV
EVIDENCE

Article 126. Statements by the suspect, accused, victim and witnesses

126.1. Oral and written information received by the prosecuting authority from the suspect, accused, victim or witnesses in pursuance of this Code shall be considered as evidence.

126.2. Only statements based on the information or conclusions of a person directly comprehending the act and its causes, character, mechanism or development may be considered as evidence.

126.3. Information given to the prosecuting authority by the suspect, accused, victim or witnesses on the basis of hearsay may not be used as evidence. Only information derived from the words of a deceased person may exceptionally be accepted as evidence by court decision.

126.4. The value of evidence may not be assigned to statements given in the following situations :

126.4.1. when a person is agreed to be unable to comprehend or describe matters significant to the prosecution at the appropriate time ;
126.4.2. when a person refuses to undergo an examination by experts of his ability to comprehend or describe matters significant to the prosecution.

126.5. Information from persons who may not be questioned as witnesses shall not be used as evidence.

126.6. The accused person’s confession of guilt may be accepted as grounds for the charge against him only if confirmed by the contents of all the evidence on the case.

General Part

SECTION THREE
EVIDENCE AND PROOF

Chapter XIV
EVIDENCE

Article 127. The expert's opinion

127.1. The expert’s opinion, expressed in written form and based on his specialised knowledge of scientific, technical, artistic or professional fields, shall consist of :

127.1.1. his findings on the questions put to him by the prosecuting authority or the parties to the criminal proceedings, as well as on the investigation of other matters relating to his competence which emerge during the examination of the case file ;
127.1.2. a description of the investigation carried out by the expert to substantiate those findings.

127.2. The expert’s investigative techniques, the grounds for his answers to the questions asked, as well as other significant prosecution matters determined by the expert on his own initiative, shall be reflected in the expert's opinion.

127.3. The expert's opinion shall not be binding on the preliminary investigator, investigator, prosecutor or court; it shall be checked by the prosecuting authority in the same way as any other evidence and evaluated in the light of all the relevant facts. If the opinion is not approved, a reasoned decision to that effect shall be given.

Article 128. Material evidence

128.1. Any item that can help to determine circumstances of importance to the prosecution because of its characteristics, features, origin, place and time of discovery or the imprints it bears may be considered to be material evidence.

128.2. An item shall be considered as material evidence if so decided by the prosecuting authority.

128.3. The significance of an item as material evidence shall be accepted by the court if :

128.3.1. immediately after its acquisition, the item is described in detail and sealed, and other similar acts are carried out making it impossible significantly to alter the imprints it bears and its features or characteristics ;
128.3.2. the suspect, accused, victim or witness recognises it immediately before it is examined in court.

General Part

SECTION THREE
EVIDENCE AND PROOF

Chapter XIV
EVIDENCE

Article 134. Records of investigative procedures and court hearings

134.1. Records of investigative procedures and court hearings shall be documents drawn up in writing in accordance with this Code which confirm the prosecuting authority’s direct understanding of matters significant to the prosecution.

134.2. The records of the following investigative procedures, drawn up in accordance with this Code, may be used as evidence by the prosecuting authority :

134.2.1. examination of places and objects ;
134.2.2. body search ;
134.2.3. identification of persons and objects ;
134.2.4. seizure of property ;
134.2.5. search operations ;
134.2.6. attachment of property ;
134.2.7. confiscation of mail, telegraphic and other messages ;
134.2.8. interception of telephone or other conversations and interception of information sent by other technological means of communication ;
134.2.9. acquisition of information concerning not only financial transactions, bank account statements and tax payments but also personal, family, state, commercial or professional secrets ;
134.2.10. exhumation ;
134.2.11. questioning, confrontation and verification of testimony at the scene ;
134.2.12. taking of samples for examination ;
134.2.13. investigative experiments.

134.3. Records of the receipt of a verbal application regarding the offence, of a voluntary confession of guilt, of detention and of the explanation of persons’ rights and duties may be used as evidence confirming those facts.

134.4. The admissibility as evidence of records of investigative procedures which have not been registered or not been registered in time shall be decided by the court depending on the result of the investigation.

134.5. The incompleteness of the record of an investigative procedure may not be offset by the testimony of the preliminary investigator, investigator, prosecutor or circumstantial witness.

Article 135. Documents

135.1. Paper, electronic and other materials bearing information which may be of importance to the prosecution, in the form of letters, numbers, graphics or other signs, shall be considered as documents. A document setting out matters known to a person through his duties and his work, confirmed with his signature and drawn up in the form prescribed by legislation, shall be considered as an official document.

135.2. Documents which have the characteristics described in Article 128.1 of this Code may also be considered as material evidence.

135.3. Evidence in support of a charge shall be from the original documents or a true copy of the original. The use of copies of documents during criminal proceedings shall be permitted with the consent of the parties.

Article 136. Inclusion of documents in the prosecution file, their keeping in the file and their return

136.1. Documents shall be added to the prosecution file by the prosecuting authority and shall be kept in the case file for the whole period during which the file is kept.

136.2. When the lawful holder of the documents requires them for routine recording, accounting or other legal purposes, he shall be allowed to use them temporarily or to make copies thereof.

136.3. One year after the court judgment becomes final or after the prosecuting authority’s decision to discontinue the prosecution becomes final, the originals of the documents which are in the prosecution file may be returned to their lawful holders at the latter’s request. In this case, depending on where the prosecution file is kept, the investigator, prosecutor or court shall make copies of these documents, certify their validity and keep the copies in the file.

Article 137. The use as evidence of material obtained in the course of search operations

If material obtained as a result of a search operation is obtained in accordance with the law of the Azerbaijan Republic on search operations and is presented and verified in accordance with the requirements of this Code, it may be accepted as evidence for the prosecution.

General Part

SECTION THREE
EVIDENCE AND PROOF

Chapter XV
PROOF

Article 145. Assessment of evidence

145.1. All evidence shall be assessed as to its relevance, credibility and reliability. The content of all evidence collected for the purposes of prosecution shall be assessed in terms of whether it is sufficient to substantiate the charge.

145.2. The preliminary investigator, investigator, prosecutor, judge and jury shall assess the evidence according to their personal conviction on the basis of a thorough, full and objective examination of its content, guided by the law and their conscience.

145.3. If suspicions which emerge during the process of proving the charge cannot be removed by other evidence, they shall be interpreted in favour of the suspect or accused.