The Ministry of Justice was established on May 28, 1918 — the day the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was founded.

In April 1920, after the occupation of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic by the XI Army of Soviet Russia, by decision of the Revolutionary Committee dated May 13, 1920, the Ministry of Justice was abolished and the People’s Commissariat of Justice was established. Its powers included the preparation of draft legislation, the selection, instruction, and administrative supervision of judicial personnel, supreme oversight of legality, and the conduct of investigations. However, in 1930, this commissariat was abolished, and its functions were transferred to the Prosecutor’s Office, the Supreme Court, the Central Executive Committee, and other bodies.

On October 27, 1970, by decision of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR, the Ministry of Justice was re-established, ensuring its stable operation. The Ministry carried out organizational supervision of the judiciary, improved legal assistance to the public, ensured the provision of notary services and judicial expertise, and, overall, enhanced the justice system, creating favorable conditions for its future development.

According to the Statute on the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Azerbaijan, approved by Presidential Decree No. 391 dated April 18, 2006, the Ministry’s fields of activity include:

• ●  Participating in the formulation of a unified state policy in the field of justice and ensuring its implementation;
• ●  Ensuring the development of the justice sector;
• ●  Carrying out law enforcement activities;
• ●  Preparing draft legislative acts, providing opinions on drafts, conducting legal expertise, state registration, and record-keeping of normative legal acts and normative acts of a legal nature;
• ●  Organizing the state registration of civil status acts;
• ●  Organizing notary activities;
• ●  Carrying out the state registration of non-commercial legal entities, branches, and representative offices of foreign non-commercial legal entities, as well as maintaining the state register of such entities;
• ●  Maintaining the unified information register of inspections carried out in the field of entrepreneurship;
• ●  Maintaining the state register of the population of the Republic of Azerbaijan;
• ●  Providing organizational support for the activities of relevant courts in accordance with the law;
• ●  Ensuring the execution of court decisions;
• ●  Organizing and supervising the activities of penitentiary institutions;
• ●  Assisting in the organization of municipal activities, providing them with methodological assistance, and exercising administrative supervision over their activities;
• ●  Conducting preliminary investigation in criminal cases in cases provided by law;
• ●  Conducting scientific research in the field of law;
• ●  Organizing judicial expert examinations;
• ●  Providing continuing education for judges, justice officers, lawyers, and other specialists in various fields of law;
• ●  Ensuring mandatory training for first-time candidates for service in the justice and prosecutorial bodies, as well as for candidates to the bar;
• ●  Ensuring the initial long-term training of candidates for judicial positions;
• ●  Conducting legal awareness-raising activities;
• ●  Ensuring the fulfillment of obligations undertaken by the Republic of Azerbaijan under international treaties related to matters within the Ministry’s competence;
• ●  Carrying out other activities determined by law.