2009 Assessment

This peer-reviewed country report includes:

Integrity Indicators Scorecard: Scores, scoring criteria, commentary, references, and peer review perspectives for more than 300 Integrity Indicators.

Reporter's Notebook: An on-the-ground look at corruption and integrity from a leading local journalist.

Corruption Timeline: Ten years of political context to today's corruption and integrity issues.

The overwhelming power of the executive branch in Azerbaijan relative to the rest of government impacts almost all government regulatory agencies. The budget approval process, judicial decisions, police investigations, regulation of state-owned enterprises, internal government auditing, and the ombudsman are all heavily influenced by the executive. The same is true for the Azerbaijan anti-corruption agency, where, as Global Integrity's lead researcher writes, "if there is no approval [from the top] the Commission on Combating Corruption keeps silent." The Commission and the ombudsman face significant challenges when attempting to access politically sensitive state records which remain heavily protected despite public access to information laws. While draft legislation for whistle-blower protections is currently being debated, there is little likelihood that any whistle-blower protection mechanism will be truly independent. More positive news is found on the financial and economic fronts: Azerbaijan has successfully reduced the previously lengthy application process for a business license, the procurement agency is creating a formal blacklist of previous violators, and the Chamber of Auditors is moving towards implementing international accounting standards.