Published on 16 December 2024
 
THIRD SECTION
Application no. 33302/21
Muzaffar BAKHISHOV
against Azerbaijan
lodged on 15 June 2021
communicated on 25 November 2024
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The application concerns the disbarment of the applicant, who was a lawyer, on account of the statements that he made at the court hearings before the Supreme Court and to the press on the President of the Supreme Court.
At the request of the Presidium of the Azerbaijani Bar Association, the domestic courts, by a final decision of the Supreme Court dated 18 November 2020 and served on the applicant on 25 December 2020, ordered the applicant’s disbarment.
Relying on Article 10 of the Convention, the applicant argues that his disbarment on account of those statements amounted to a breach of his right to freedom of expression.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
Has there been an interference with the applicant’s freedom of expression, in particular his right to impart information and ideas, within the meaning of Article 10 § 1 of the Convention? In particular, was the applicant’s disbarment on account of the statements that he had made at the court hearings before the Supreme Court and to the press on the President of the Supreme Court justified under Article 10 § 2 of the Convention?