European Court of Human Rights Finds Azerbaijan Did Not Comply with 2014 Judgment (May 29, 2019) [1]
On May 29, 2019, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights delivered its first judgment [3] in infringement proceedings under Article 46 § 4 (binding force and execution of judgments) of the European Convention, finding the Azerbaijan had not fulfilled its obligations from a 2014 ruling in which the Court ordered the state to unconditionally release political activist Ilgar Mammadov. As noted in the press release [4], the Court determined “that the Government had taken only limited steps to implement the judgment, which had not amounted to Azerbaijan acting in ‘good faith’ or in a manner which was in accordance with the ‘conclusions and spirit’ of its ruling in Mr Mammadov’s case.” After the 2014 ruling, in which the Court found that Azerbaijan had violated Ilhar Mammadov’s rights by arresting him without reasonable suspicion he had committed an offense, Azerbaijan was detained for a further four years until his conditional release in August 2018, after infringement proceedings started. The Court held that Azerbaijan had not fulfilled its obligations under Article 46 § 1 of the Convention to implement the judgment.