Azerbaijan : 5.2 Legislation on culture :

Azerbaijan/ 5.2 Legislation on culture

Azerbaijani society is typified at present by cultural diversity, and so all laws on culture are geared to satisfying a broad range of cultural requirements. Some laws are general (e.g. the Culture Act of 1998), others more specific (e.g. the laws on cinematography, town planning, museums and publishing). The Culture Act spells out the principles and aims of the state policy, and lays down the duties of government and local authorities in this area. It guarantees the right of individuals to engage in creative activity, promotes international contacts and co-operation, prevents the state from monopolising culture, and covers preservation and development of the cultural identity and heritage of Azerbaijan and ethnic minorities, historically resident in its territory. It also provides measures to promote creativity and the activities of public agencies and organisations working in the cultural sphere. State interference is limited to prohibiting any material that is pornographic or which encourages violence, racial, national or religious intolerance, or drug addiction. These prohibitions are backed by effective legal sanctions. All other forms of state interference in cultural activity are prohibited. Many aspects of the functioning, funding and development of culture and cultural institutions are also regulated by this law, which is now under review by the Culture Committee of Milli Mejlis (National Parliament) in order to reflect new tendencies.

Table 22: List of existing cultural legislation

#	Title of the law	Year of adoption
1	Law on the re-introduction of Roman letters in the Azerbaijani alphabet	25 December 1991
2	Law on mass media	21 July 1992
3	Law on establishing a copyright agency in the Republic of Azerbaijan	10 September 1993
4	Law on the Industrial Union "Azerkinovideo"	13 December 1993
5	Law on authors' and related rights	5 June 1996
6	Law on advertising	3 October 1997
7	Law on culture	6 February 1998
8	Law on the protection of historic and cultural monuments	10 April 1998
9	Law on subsidies	17 April 1998
10	Law on freedom of information	19 June 1998
11	Law on the cinema	3 July 1998
12	Law on architecture	3 July 1998
13	Law on libraries	29 December 1998
14	Law on tourism	4 June 1999
15	Law on town-planning principles	11 June 1999
16	Law on the National Archives	22 June 1999
17	Law on mass media	8 February 2000
18	Law on museums	24 March 2000
19	Law on publishing	30 May 2000
20	Law on protection of folklore models	16 May 2003
21	Law on theatre activities	29 December 2006

Source: Milli Medjlis (Parliament), 2012.

Table 23: List of international legal instruments

#	Title of act	Year of joining
1	International Pact on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights from 1966	1992
2	Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and the Protocols	1993
3	Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage	1993
4	Convention on Cooperation of the States belonging to the Black Sea Region in the sphere of culture, education, science and information	1995
5	Convention on Recognition of Studies, Diplomas and Degrees concerning Higher Education in the States belonging to the European Region	1996
6	Universal Copyright Convention	1997
7	Convention on Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Cultural Property	1997
8	European Cultural Convention	1997
9	Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works	1998
10	European Convention of 1992 for the Protection of Archaeological Heritage	1999
11	European Convention on Joint Film-Making	1999
12	UNIDRUA Convention on Stolen and Illegally Exported Cultural Objects	2000
13	Convention for Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage	2006
14	Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe	2008
15	Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions	2010

Source: Milli Medjlis (Parliament), 2012.

Chapter published: 08-12-2012

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