Ministry of Justice and Transparency Azerbaijan discuss problems in registration of civil status acts

Posted by: admin | Posted on: Август 22, 2014

Transparency Azerbaijan, with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), organized a roundtable to discuss reforms and problems in registry of civil status acts in Azerbaijan. The roundtable was the latest in a series organized by Transparency Azerbaijan within its Azerbaijan Partnership for Transparency Project (APT) to facilitate dialogue between the government institutions and NGOs on increasing transparency and accountability of government agencies. Representatives of Ministry of Justice, Office of Public Prosecutor, State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President, Ministry of Health, State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs, etc. and members of Azerbaijan’s civil society, including mass media participated in the roundtable.
Participants agreed that despite the efforts of the Government of Azerbaijan to ensure transparency and efficiency of services of registration of civil status acts by introduction of a number of legal acts (such as the Law on Names and Family Names, Statutes Regulating Registration Offices) and introduction of electronic services, etc. a number of challenges in this area remain. The representatives from Transparency Azerbaijan and other civil society organizations emphasized the need to address these challenges and made recommendations on how best the government could overcome them. Roundtable participants identified and discussed current deficiencies in efforts to minimize opportunities for corrupt practices in the registry of civil status acts and proposed ways to increase transparency and efficiency in this area.
The roundtable provided a good platform for the government officials and civil society representatives to exchange their views on an important area of public service, as evidenced by active and congenial interaction of the participants. The members of Azerbaijan’s civil society decided to deliver to the Ministry their written recommendations on enhancing transparency and accountability in the area of registration of civil status acts. Recommendations can be downloaded here.