ATAKISHI v. AZERBAIJAN JUDGMENT
1
In the case of Atakishi v. Azerbaijan,
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting as a
Chamber composed of:
Nina Vajić, President,
Peer Lorenzen,
Khanlar Hajiyev,
Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska,
Julia Laffranque,
Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos,
Erik Møse, judges,
and Søren Nielsen, Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 7 February 2012,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in an application (no. 18469/06) against the
Republic of Azerbaijan lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
(“the Convention”) by an Azerbaijani national, Mr Abbas Musa oğlu
Atakishi (“the applicant”), on 5 May 2006.
2. The applicant was represented by Mr M. Mustafayev, a lawyer
practising in Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani Government (“the Government”)
were represented by their Agent, Mr Ç. Asgarov.
3. The applicant alleged, in particular, that his right to stand for election,
as guaranteed by Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention, had been
infringed.
4. On 3 September 2008 the application was communicated to the
Government. It was also decided to rule on the admissibility and merits of
the application at the same time (Article 29 § 1).
THE FACTS
I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE
5. The applicant was born in 1959 and lives in Baku.
6. He stood in the elections to the National Assembly of
6 November 2005 as an independent candidate. He was registered as a
candidate by the Constituency Electoral Commission (“the ConEC”) for the
single-mandate Shamakhi Electoral Constituency No. 85.