CHAPTER 4. LEGAL EDUCATION
As already mentioned, arrangement of legal education work constitutes one of the main
directions of the Azerbaijani NPM’s activity. The organization of this activity at a higher level,
in a more intensive manner, and with the involvement of other state bodies is also specified in
the National Action Program for Increasing Effectiveness of Protection of Human Rights and
Freedoms in the Republic of Azerbaijan, which was adopted taken into consideration the
Commissioner’s proposals as well. This document has established a responsibility for the
relevant bodies to ensure that the personnel of law-enforcement bodies and other relevant
agencies, as well as lawyers and representatives of NGOs specialized in the field of human rights
learn the requirements of the Convention and OPCAT, conduct awareness raising and take other
necessary measures to ensure effective implementation of the NPM functions in compliance with
the OPCAT, and hold awareness raising events to improve legal thinking and legal culture of
people and promote the inadmissibility of discrimination47.
As in previous years, the legal education work conducted in 2012 may be grouped as per
the target audience in the following way:
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for the staff of the Office and NPG members;
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for the personnel of the places of detention, as well as students of the relevant
educational institutions and academies; and
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persons kept in places of detention.
Alongside the aforementioned, it should be noted that various booklets, leaflets,
brochures, books, and posters devoted to different aspects of human rights, including prevention
of torture, are regularly developed in the Office, published, and distributed, free of charge,
among the personnel of relevant agencies. For the purpose of awareness raising, the text of the
OPCAT is published as appendix to all the annual reports of the NPM.
During the reporting period a series of awareness raising events was arranged for each of
the above mentioned audiences. The staff of the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic
of Azerbaijan, MIA, MJ and MNS took an active part at the events. To the point, in order to
ensure that the NPM operates more effectively, the Commissioner pays close attention to the
constant enhancement of the measures taken by the relevant state bodies, particularly lawenforcement agencies to increase human rights awareness.
In the course of legal education work, along with the state bodies, strong collaboration is
ensured with international organizations, NGOs, and the mass media as well, and joint events are
47
National Action Program for Increasing Effectiveness of Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms in the
Republic of Azerbaijan (approved by Order No. 1938 of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan of 27
December 2011), clause 4.1, 4.2, 4.10.
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