Article 23 of the OPCAT specifies that the States Parties to the OPCAT undertake to publish and disseminate the annual reports of the NPMs. In accordance with Article 14.5 of the Constitutional Law the annual reports of the Commissioner shall be promulgated in public publications. Thus, as a result of the analysis of the Commissioner’s mandate in the context of the requirements of the OPCAT, it has been determined that it partially complies with the OPCAT and it is necessary to amend the law accordingly to enable the Commissioner to function as a fully empowered NPM. Meanwhile, it should be noted that the works aimed at the improvement of the legislation have already started. Thus, on 21 December 2010 the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan “On Making Additions and Amendments to the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan” passed its first reading in the Milli Majlis (Parliament) of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The law will enter into force after having passed revoting in 6 months and being approved by the country president. It should be emphasized that the law concerned has been adopted by the support of the Commissioner, as well as relevant international bodies, including the OSCE Office in Baku and OSCE-ODIHR, civil society, human rights advocacy organizations and human rights defenders functioning in Azerbaijan and by taking into consideration their proposals and recommendations. The additions and amendments made to the Constitutional Law are of great importance due to their significance and scope and may be deemed successful progress and improvement. By the above mentioned law the scope of the Commissioner’s mandate, as well as his/her independence indicators have been significantly extended and brought in conformity with the requirements set out for NPMs in the OPCAT, as well as certain guarantees have been provided for his/her staff. Thus, along with the Commissioner’s reactive function aimed at the restoration of violated human rights, his/her preventive function aimed at the prevention of human rights violations; his/her control over the information 28