The Father Wrote the Constitution. The Son Rewrote It Three Times. Then He Made His Wife the Vice President.
Azerbaijan — Constitution Profile
| 📅 Adopted | November 12, 1995 — by popular referendum |
| 🏛️ Government | Presidential Republic (authoritarian in practice) |
| 🌍 Capital | Baku |
| 📄 Drafted By | A commission chaired by President Heydar Aliyev — about himself |
| ✏️ Amended | Three times — 2002, 2009, 2016 — each time expanding presidential power |
| 👑 Most Unusual Provision | No minimum age for president — introduced in 2016, making Aliyev's 19-year-old son eligible |
There are constitutions written by committees of lawyers, constitutions written by revolutionary assemblies, and constitutions written by colonial administrators on their way out. Azerbaijan's 1995 constitution belongs to a rarer category: it was written by a commission personally chaired by the man it was mostly designed to benefit, then amended three times by his son to benefit the son, and then used to install the son's wife as the person who would take power if the son ever stepped down. At no point did the word "dynasty" appear in the text. It didn't need to.
The First Republic Lasted 23 Months — and Left No Constitution Behind
Azerbaijan's constitutional history has an odd gap at the beginning. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was founded in 1918 and existed for 23 months until 1920, but was not able to adopt its own constitution. The republic — historically notable as the first Muslim-majority democratic republic — collapsed under Soviet invasion before its lawmakers could finish the document they'd been working on.
As a result, the history of Azerbaijan's constitution dates mainly back to the country's time as a Soviet republic. The first Constitution of Azerbaijan SSR was adopted in 1921, and the last Constitution of Azerbaijan SSR was adopted on April 21, 1978, also in line with the USSR Constitution. When the Soviet Union collapsed and independence returned in 1991, Azerbaijan was effectively starting from scratch — with a 1978 Soviet document as its only point of departure and a country that had never actually finished writing its own law.
A KGB Man Chaired the Commission That Wrote the Constitution — About Himself
The man who designed Azerbaijan's first independent constitution was not a legal theorist or a democratic reformer. Heydar Aliyev had been a high-ranking official in the KGB of the Azerbaijan SSR, serving for 28 years in Soviet state security organs from 1941 to 1969, before governing Soviet Azerbaijan from 1969 to 1982 as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan.
He assembled the Constitutional Commission in June 1995 to create a constitution to replace the 1978 Azerbaijan SSR Constitution. The Constitution was prepared by the commission chaired by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, and tasked with preparing the draft new Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The man who had spent nearly three decades in Soviet intelligence and party structures was now writing the foundational law for a democratic republic — and he was writing it himself, about the powers of his own office, from the chair of the commission. The new constitution was confirmed by a referendum held on November 12, 1995.
The First Amendment Was Marred by Fraud — and Directly Benefited the Man Who Called It
Seven years after the constitution came into force, Heydar Aliyev called for the first round of amendments. The first amendment to the Constitution of Azerbaijan was approved as the result of the 2002 Azerbaijani constitutional referendum, which was marred by fraud. These included the abolition of proportional party-list elections to Parliament, a change in the presidential line of succession to favor the prime minister instead of the chairman of the Milli Majlis, and the favoring of a simple majority when calculating presidential election results.
That last change mattered most. Under the old rules, a presidential candidate needed a majority in a runoff if no one cleared 50% in the first round. Under the new rules, a simple plurality was enough to win outright. In 2002, a constitutional referendum in Azerbaijan made the prime minister next in line for the presidency if the president became incapacitated. Heydar Aliyev was already seriously ill by this point. The following year, his son Ilham became prime minister — and then, within weeks, president.
The Son Inherited Power — Then Removed the Limit on How Long He Could Keep It
Ilham Aliyev became the country's president on October 31, 2003, through a presidential election defined by irregularities, shortly before his father's death. The constitutional machinery his father had built — the commission, the amendments, the succession rules — had delivered the presidency to the next generation of the family without a democratic transition in any meaningful sense.
Ilham moved quickly to make the arrangement permanent. In March 2009, a constitutional referendum under Aliyev's administration removed presidential term limits, allowing him to seek re-election indefinitely. The March 18, 2009 amendment lifted the previous limit of two five-year terms for the office of President. This move raised serious concerns from the Council of Europe's Venice Commission and the European Commission about the potential consolidation of executive power and erosion of democratic safeguards. The referendum was conducted without broad public consultation, drawing criticism from opposition parties who argued it violated both domestic constitutional norms and Azerbaijan's international commitments.
The Third Round of Amendments Extended His Term, Removed the Age Limit, and Created a Job for His Wife
Seven years after removing term limits, Ilham Aliyev called a third constitutional referendum. A constitutional referendum was held in Azerbaijan on September 26, 2016. All 29 amendments were approved by between 89% and 95% of voters. It created the office of Vice President and extended the presidential term from five to seven years.
Two other changes received less attention but said more. The amendments removed the requirement that the president be at least 35 years of age — a change that, in the opinion of observers, makes Aliyev's son eligible for the office. The son was 19 at the time. And the new Vice President post was filled on February 21, 2017: Ilham Aliyev appointed his wife Mehriban Aliyeva as First Vice President of Azerbaijan — meaning if her husband steps down, she would become President. The Venice Commission concluded that these constitutional changes "would severely upset the balance of power and give 'unprecedented' control to the president."
A Constitution That Says "No One May Usurp Power" — While a Family Holds It for Decades
Article 6 of the Azerbaijan constitution carries a striking prohibition: "No part of the Azerbaijani people, no social group or organisation, no individual may usurp the authority to exercise the power. Usurpation of power is the most serious crime against the people." The article was written into the 1995 document by the commission chaired by Heydar Aliyev.
The same document, as amended in 2009, allows the same person to hold the presidency for an unlimited number of terms. As amended in 2016, it extended each term to seven years, removed the minimum age for the office, and created a vice presidency filled by presidential appointment — currently held by the president's wife. The government has been ruled by the Aliyev political family and the New Azerbaijan Party established by Heydar Aliyev continuously since 1993. The constitution that forbids usurpation of power has been amended three times to make the existing concentration of power easier to maintain and pass on.
Constitution at a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| First Republic Founded (No Constitution Adopted) | 1918–1920 (23 months) |
| Soviet-era Constitution (Final Version) | April 21, 1978 |
| Independence Declared | 1991 |
| Constitutional Commission Chaired by Heydar Aliyev | June 1995 |
| Current Constitution Adopted by Referendum | November 12, 1995 |
| First Amendment (Marred by Fraud) | August 24, 2002 — 31 amendments to 22 articles |
| Heydar Aliyev Dies, Ilham Takes Power | 2003 |
| Second Amendment — Term Limits Removed | March 18, 2009 — 41 amendments to 29 articles |
| Third Amendment — Term Extended to 7 Years, Age Limit Removed, VP Post Created | September 26, 2016 — 29 amendments |
| Mehriban Aliyeva Appointed First Vice President | February 21, 2017 |
| Aliyev Family in Unbroken Power | 1993 — present (30+ years) |
📥 Read the Constitution of Azerbaijan
Read the complete, official text of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan:
👉 Read the Constitution of Azerbaijan — Official Full Text (President of Azerbaijan)
A constitution drafted by the man it was meant to empower. Amended three times by his son — each time expanding the presidency's reach. A vice president appointed by the president, who happens to be his wife, who would become president if he ever steps down. And an article in the founding document that calls usurpation of power the most serious crime against the people. What part of Azerbaijan's story surprised you most? Tell us in the comments below.
This article reflects an editorial reading of publicly available constitutional text and reporting, intended for general understanding rather than legal interpretation. Readers are encouraged to consult the original constitutional text linked above to form their own view.
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