Azerbaijan Introduces Private Judicial Enforcement System

The Law on Private Enforcement Officers of the Republic of Azerbaijan was promulgated by the President on 13 August 2025 and will enter into force on 1 January 2026. For the first time in the history of the country, private enforcement agencies (non-state bailiffs) are authorized to participate in the judicial enforcement system.

Private enforcement officers will be selected through a competition organized by a public competition commission and will be certified by the Ministry of Justice. They are required to maintain professional liability insurance in an amount not less than two hundred times the minimum salary.

Private enforcement officers may carry out the enforcement of all judicial documents, with the exception of:

• judgments and other final decisions of the court in criminal cases;
• decisions in cases concerning administrative offences;
• decisions of the court in administrative disputes;
• court decisions in civil cases and commercial disputes where state authorities or the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan are parties;
• decisions on relocation into residential or non-residential premises, and on eviction from residential or non-residential premises (land plots), except in cases where the requirement for eviction arises from enforcement documents directed at mortgaged property or from the transfer of property to the creditor in lieu of debt;
• decisions of administrative bodies relating to the collection of monetary claims, with the exception of municipalities;
• protection orders issued in connection with domestic violence;
• decisions concerning communication with a child and the return of a child;
• decisions on compulsory treatment adopted under special proceedings in accordance with the civil procedural legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

An enforcement document may be submitted for enforcement by the claimant within a period of three years from the date of its delivery. Claimants are free to choose any enforcement officer from the registry. Standard and additional enforcement fees, as well as thresholds, will be determined by the Cabinet of Ministers.

The Ministry of Justice and the Non-Commercial Chamber of Private Enforcement Officers will supervise the activities of private enforcement officers.

It is expected that private bailiffs will provide a competitive advantage over state bailiffs by ensuring accelerated and more efficient enforcement mechanisms. The Law on Private Enforcement Officers of the Republic of Azerbaijan will enter into force on 1 January 2026 and will be implemented in accordance with the established timelines. Within six months, the Ministry of Justice is required to adopt the implementation stages of the special enforcement system across the administrative-territorial units of the Republic of Azerbaijan.