Language

The Republic of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan - Criminal Procedure Code (EN) 2000

General Part

FIRST SECTION
Main Provisions

Chapter II
Purposes and basic principles of criminal proceedings

Article 26. The language used in criminal proceedings

26.1. Criminal proceedings in the courts of the Azerbaijan Republic shall be conducted in the official language of the Azerbaijan Republic or in the language of the majority of the population in the relevant area.

26.2. In the event that the parties do not know the language used in court, the judicial authority shall guarantee the following rights to them :

26.2.1. their right to use their mother tongue ;
26.2.2. the right to use the services of an interpreter free of charge during the investigation and court hearings, to be fully familiar with all documents relating to the case and criminal prosecution and to use their mother tongue in court.

26.3. The rights of parties who do not know the language used in criminal proceedings, as provided for under Article 26.2.2 of this Code, shall be secured at the expense of the budget of the Azerbaijan Republic.

26.4. The judicial authority shall provide the relevant persons with the necessary documents in the language used during the trial.

General Part

SECOND SECTION
THE COURTS AND THE PARTIES TO CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS

Chapter IX
THE DEFENCE

Article 90. The suspect

90.7. From the outset of detention or the decision on the choice of restrictive measure, the suspect shall exercise the following rights in accordance with this Code :

90.7.11. to give statements in his mother tongue or a language he knows ;
90.7.12. to have the help of an interpreter free of charge ;

General Part

SECOND SECTION
THE COURTS AND THE PARTIES TO CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS

Chapter IX
THE DEFENCE

Article 91. The accused

91.5. The accused shall exercise the following rights in accordance with this Code :

91.5.11. to give statements in his mother tongue or in a language he knows ;
91.5.12. to have the help of an interpreter free of charge ;

General Part

SECTION FOUR
COERCIVE PROCEDURAL MEASURES

Chapter XVI
DETENTION

Article 153. Safeguarding of detainees’ rights

153.2. To secure the rights of the detainee, the officials of the prosecuting authority and those in charge of the temporary detention facility shall :

153.2.9. secure the right of any person who does not know the language of the criminal proceedings to use the services of an interpreter free of charge ;

Rome Statute

Article 50 Official and working languages

1. The official languages of the Court shall be Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. The judgements of the Court, as well as other decisions resolving fundamental issues before the Court, shall be published in the official languages. The Presidency shall, in accordance with the criteria established by the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, determine which decisions may be considered as resolving fundamental issues for the purposes of this paragraph.

2. The working languages of the Court shall be English and French. The Rules of Procedure and Evidence shall determine the cases in which other official languages may be used as working languages.

3. At the request of any party to a proceeding or a State allowed to intervene in a proceeding, the Court shall authorize a language other than English or French to be used by such a party or State, provided that the Court considers such authorization to be adequately justified.

Article 55 Rights of persons during an investigation

2. Where there are grounds to believe that a person has committed a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court and that person is about to be questioned either by the Prosecutor, or by national authorities pursuant to a request made under Part 9, that person shall also have the following rights of which he or she shall be informed prior to being questioned:

(c) To have legal assistance of the person's choosing, or, if the person does not have legal assistance, to have legal assistance assigned to him or her, in any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment by the person in any such case if the person does not have sufficient means to pay for it; and

Article 87 Requests for cooperation: general provisions

2. Requests for cooperation and any documents supporting the request shall either be in or be accompanied by a translation into an official language of the requested State or one of the working languages of the Court, in accordance with the choice made by that State upon ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. Subsequent changes to this choice shall be made in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and Evidence.