Why do you think you were selected as a winner?
I participated in two nominations, Mentorship and Human Rights Protection. I think I qualified for both nominations thanks to my background in winning cases on human rights protection. As for the Mentorship nomination, I was training five interns at the time of applying for the competition. Now I have six interns who passed the tests successfully and are currently working as lawyers. I equipped them with all the necessary skills required in this field.
During my career, I worked as a lawyer in almost all offices in the legal field, that is, in companies and state-owned enterprises, as a consultant in the Department of Justice, as an investigator in district, regional, and republican prosecutor's offices, as a district and regional court judge, as the chairman of the collegium, acting as the chairman of the regional court, and in leadership positions in the regional department of justice. Regardless of where and in what position I am, I always try to give knowledge about the practice to the employees around me.
I am grateful that they chose me and gave me this award in the category of Mentorship. I will try to continue this work in the future.
Why did you choose to become a lawyer?
As I mentioned earlier, I have worked in almost all offices in the field of law, trying to fully absorb the experiences that each one of them can offer.
Whatever office I went to and worked at, I worked at my own will. When I was a judge, I told my colleagues that I would one day become a lawyer. I am proud of my work as a lawyer because I believe that as a lawyer, I can help people the most. In today's times, every case needs the help of lawyers to get justice. We are lawyers who work with people and help people.
What are you most proud of?
In my career as a lawyer, I have achieved the acquittal of 179 defendants and convicts by February 2023, and I am proud of that. Among them are the acquittals issued based on the decisions of the Supreme Court. However, what makes me the proudest is restoring the dignity of those under my protection and making them happy. If any lawyer achieves an acquittal of a citizen under their protection, they will certainly be proud of their work, which will encourage them to work harder, work on themselves, analyze newly adopted laws, provide qualified legal assistance to citizens, and make their results even better.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
One of the current problems in the judicial system is the reduction of cassation appeal procedures in the lower court. As a result, the Supreme Court has to review more cases. I think the Supreme Court should review less cases, and issue more executive decisions on the review of cases in the lower courts and the application of law in practice. However, along with difficulties, positive changes are taking place in the system. For example, due to the pandemic, the whole world had to change. The widespread use of digitization has made obtaining a lawyer's license and many other procedures much easier. The Chamber of Advocates has been providing great assistance in this regard. At the same time, the entire judicial system had to adapt to this new reality. I think it was a positive change. The problems of the pandemic prompted us to digitize our system and use digital tools. Courtrooms have been equipped with video conference connections. We quickly acquired the necessary skills and began conducting court proceedings online. Now I have all the necessary software and tools on my work computer, laptop, and even my mobile phone. I can conduct court proceedings online from any region or abroad. This has become an opportunity for lawyers, not an obstacle. It has also become much easier for people to approach a lawyer and participate in court proceedings.
How does your work impact society in your opinion? Is there a specific example?
I think that lawyers have a good impact on society as they provide competent legal assistance to people whose rights have been violated and who don’t know what to do.
For example, a person under my protection was prosecuted in a criminal case, but based on the complaint and additional documents, the courts made a fair decision to dismiss the case and acquit them. They were rehabilitated and began leading agricultural clusters, employing more than 5,000 people and making a great contribution to the economy of districts and regions, in industry, agriculture, and production, overall improving the quality of life.
Why did you apply to this competition?
A few years ago, I suggested that there should be a ranking among lawyers, so that there would be healthy competition, and most importantly, lawyers would work more on themselves. In 2016, my law firm was named the best in the country. The reason I applied for the contest again this year is that I believe a person shouldn’t stop improving but should continue to achieve success.
