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.
Other forms of cooperation
Cooperation under procedures of national law
Admissibility of evidence - national proceedings
Taking of evidence - national proceedings
EDIT.