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They do not respect the binding decision of the Constitutional Court."
Bilajari Repair and Installation CJSC and Jannat Park Housing Construction Cooperative have a long-running lawsuit regarding 2,100 pipes worth 2 million AZN. The dispute was considered several times in the Baku Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court, and the case even went to the Constitutional Court. Yet, still the problem is not solved.
The disputed pipes belonged to Trust No. 16. This organization owed 6.5 million to Bilajari Repair and Installation CJSC. This issue between the parties was investigated in court in 2015, and the judge decided that Trust No. 16 should pay the companies 6.5 million AZN. In order to enforce this court decision, 2,100 pipes belonging to the Trust's property were seized. The appraisal company said the pipes were worth 2 million AZN.
After that, Jannat Park claimed that the pipes belonged to them, because the director of Trust No. 16 had pledged them the pipes in 2014 when he borrowed 2 million AZN.
This issue also went to court, and "Paradise Park" filed a lawsuit. The dispute went to the Supreme Court. In the summer of 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the pipes were the property of Bilajari Repair and Installation CJSC.
"Paradise Park" MTC appealed this decision. After the first and appellate instances, this dispute also reached the Supreme Court. In January 2019, the Supreme Court came to a different conclusion and decided to transfer the pipes to Paradise Park.
Bilajari Repair and Installation CJSC appealed to the Constitutional Court, taking into account the existence of two different decisions of the Supreme Court on the same issue. The company's management asked the Constitutional Court to comment on these two conflicting decisions, to clarify which should be taken as a basis.
The Plenum of the Constitutional Court considered the case and came to the conclusion that the decision of the Supreme Court dated January 20, 2019 (transfer of pipes to "Paradise Park" MTC – ed.) was invalid. The Supreme Court also decided to reconsider the case.
The Supreme Court reconsidered the issue and ruled differently this time. The court of appeals overturned then the decision. The case was returned to the Baku Court of Appeal for re-investigation. The Court of Appeal, chaired by Judge Jahangir Yusifov, considered the case and decided to purchase the pipes from Bilajari Repair and Installation CJSC.
Dissatisfied with this decision, Bilajari Temir Gurashdira CJSC again appealed to the Supreme Court. This most recent complaint will be considered on 23 July.
The head of the company, Nazim Tahirov, said that the appellate court came to a conclusion contrary to the decision of the Constitutional Court: “Article 130, paragraph IX of the Constitution of Azerbaijan states that the decision of the Constitutional Court is binding on the territory of Azerbaijan. However, lower courts do not respect the binding decision of the Constitutional Court.
According to Nazim Tahirov, he sent complaints to the Ministry of Justice, the Judicial-Legal Council and other government agencies, yet received no answer.
"In this regard, the decision of the Constitutional Court states that the decision of the Supreme Court is considered invalid because it does not comply with Part I of Article 60 of the Constitution. It was stressed that this decision is final and cannot be revoked, changed or officially interpreted by any body. However, the judge of the Baku Court of Appeal does not consider this decision of the Constitutional Court to be factual", the businessman wrote in a letter to the President.
