CASE OF KHADIJA ISMAYILOVA v. AZERBAIJAN (No. 4)

CASE OF KHADIJA ISMAYILOVA v. AZERBAIJAN (No. 4)

Application No: 71556/16, 74112/17

Articles: 7, 7-1, 6, 6-1, 10, 10-1, 18, 18+10, 41

Respondent state: AZE

Date: 2026-01-27

Conclusion:

Violation of Article 7 - No punishment without law (Article 7-1 - Nulla poena sine lege; Nullum crimen sine lege); Violation of Article 6 - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Criminal proceedings; Article 6-1 - Fair hearing); Violation of Article 10 - Freedom of expression - {general} (Article 10-1 - Freedom of expression); Violation of Article 18+10 - Limitation on use of restrictions on rights (Article 18 - Restrictions for unauthorised purposes) (Article 10 - Freedom of expression - {general}; Article 10-1 - Freedom of expression); Pecuniary damage - claim dismissed (Article 41 - Pecuniary damage; Just satisfaction); Non-pecuniary damage - award (Article 41 - Non-pecuniary damage; Just satisfaction)

Subject classification: Advisory opinion concerning the use of the “blanket reference” or “legislation by reference” technique in the definition of an offence and the standards of comparison between the criminal law in force at the time of the commission of the offence and the amended criminal law [GC], request no. P16-2019-001, Armenian Constitutional Court, § 62, 29 May 2020; Advisory opinion on the applicability of statutes of limitation to prosecution, conviction and punishment in respect of an offence constituting, in substance, an act of torture [GC], request no. P16-2021-001, Armenian Court of Cassation, § 67, 26 April 2022; Aliyev v. Azerbaijan, nos. 68762/14 and 71200/14, § 223, 20 September 2018; Ayyubzade v. Azerbaijan, no. 6180/15, §§ 48-49, 2 March 2023; Baka v. Hungary [GC], no. 20261/12, §§ 117 and 145-148, 23 June 2016; Cantoni v. France, 15 November 1996, § 29, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1996 V; Centre for Legal Resources on behalf of Valentin Câmpeanu v. Romania [GC], no. 47848/08, § 156, ECHR 2014; Del Río Prada v. Spain [GC], no. 42750/09, §§ 78-80, ECHR 2013; Dragotoniu and Militaru-Pidhorni v. Romania, nos. 77193/01 and 77196/01, § 42, 24 May 2007; Farzaliyev v. Azerbaijan, no. 29620/07, §§ 34-36, 28 May 2020; Fatullayev v. Azerbaijan (no. 2), no. 32734/11, §§ 76-83, 7 April 2022; G.I.E.M. S.r.l. and Others v. Italy [GC], nos. 1828/06 and 2 others, § 242, 28 June 2018; Gafiuc v. Romania, no. 59174/13, § 55, 13 October 2020; Georgouleas and Nestoras v. Greece, nos. 44612/13 and 45831/13, § 63, 28 May 2020; Ibrahimov and Mammadov v. Azerbaijan, nos. 63571/16 and 5 others, 13 February 2020; Ilgar Mammadov v. Azerbaijan (no. 2), no. 919/15, §§ 203-210, 16 November 2017; Ivanova v. Bulgaria, no. 52435/99, §§ 83-84, 12 April 2007; Jidic v. Romania, no. 45776/16, § 83, 18 February 2020; Khadija Ismayilova v. Azerbaijan (no. 2), no. 30778/15, 27 February 2020; Khadija Ismayilova v. Azerbaijan (no. 3), no. 35283/14, §§ 7-8 and 14-17, 7 May 2020; Khadija Ismayilova v. Azerbaijan, nos. 65286/13 and 57270/14, §§ 6-8, 10 January 2019; Khodorkovskiy and Lebedev v. Russia (no. 2), nos. 51111/07 and 42757/07, §§ 570 and 622, 14 January 2020; Kokkinakis v. Greece, 25 May 1993, § 52, Series A no. 260 A; Kononov v. Latvia [GC], no. 36376/04, §§ 187, 189 and 198, ECHR 2010; Korbely v. Hungary [GC], no. 9174/02, § 73, ECHR 2008; Mammadli v. Azerbaijan, no. 47145/14, §§ 99-101, 19 April 2018; Mándli and Others v. Hungary, no. 63164/16, § 45, 26 May 2020; Merabishvili v. Georgia [GC], no. 72508/13, §§ 287-354, 28 November 2017; Miroslava Todorova v. Bulgaria, no. 40072/13, § 153, 19 October 2021; Nachova and Others v. Bulgaria [GC], nos. 43577/98 and 43579/98, § 147, ECHR 2005-VII; Natig Jafarov v. Azerbaijan, no. 64581/16, § 64, 7 November 2019; Navalnyy v. Russia [GC], nos. 29580/12 and 4 others, §§ 164-65, 15 November 2018; Navalnyye v. Russia, no. 101/15, § 68, 17 October 2017; Pessino v. France, no. 40403/02, § 34, 10 October 2006; Rashad Hasanov and Others v. Azerbaijan, nos. 48653/13 and 3 others, §§ 122-25, 7 June 2018; Rasul Jafarov v. Azerbaijan, no. 69981/14, §§ 36-40 and 159-161, 17 March 2016; Razvozzhayev v. Russia and Ukraine and Udaltsov v. Russia, nos. 75734/12 and 2 others, §§ 304-305, 19 November 2019; Rohlena v. the Czech Republic [GC], no. 59552/08, §§ 51 and 52, ECHR 2015; Selahattin Demirtaş v. Turkey (no. 2) [GC], no. 14305/17, §§ 421-22, 22 December 2020; Selishcheva and Others v. Russia, nos. 39056/22 and 9 others, § 41, 27 May 2025; Vasiliauskas v. Lithuania [GC], no. 35343/05, §§ 160-162, ECHR 2015; Wille v. Liechtenstein [GC], no. 28396/95, § 43, ECHR 1999-VII; Yüksel Yalçınkaya v. Türkiye [GC], no. 15669/20, § 238, 26 September 2023