In Azerbaijan, the State Security Service has a Department of Combating Crimes in Communications and IT, within the General Directorate of Combating Organised Transnational Crimes. It has the power to investigate computer-related crimes, including hacking attacks against computers and vital state infrastructure, illegal interception and interference with data, computer-related fraud, crimes on the Internet, child abuse, and racism. Its activities mainly aim at fighting child pornography, signs of terrorism in the Internet, embezzlement and fraud related to the use of information technology and the Internet.

There is an ongoing reform by which more investigative powers are eventually transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs from the State Security Service; in this light, the Ministry of Interior would have a more prominent role in investigating cybercrime offences and in dealing with electronic evidence in the near future, while the State Security Service would retain investigative jurisdiction on cybercrime threatening the national security, such as attacks on critical information infrastructure.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the central executive agency responsible for public security, and the prevention and exposure of criminal offences in the Republic of Azerbaijan, within the framework of authorities provided by the national legislation.

Being the main police entity in the country, the Ministry of Internal Affairs also investigates cybercrime cases that are reported to the police units across the country. To support this capacity, there is a reform process since 2016, to establish a dedicated unit to fight cybercrime within the police, under the Ministry of Interior. Currently, there is a small team of officers (around 25) designated for the task, also providing support and advice to other units of the police that handle cybercrime and electronic evidence.

An internal digital forensic team is supporting the work of the Ministry on cybercrime and electronic evidence.

The Prosecutor General’s Office has the responsibility to control and to supervise the investigative procedures. The Office exercises supervision over law enforcement authorities, which are entitled to investigate cybercrimes: The State Security Service and the Police (as a part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs). In police investigations, prosecutors are assigned to cases on the basis of regional jurisdictions, as there are no specialized prosecutors for cybercrime cases. In case the State Security Service is investigating, the General Prosecutor’s Office has direct supervisory authority.

The International Relations Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office is the central authority at the pre-trial stage. Reciprocity and dual criminality are important pre-requisites for mutual legal assistance; the choice of channels of communication is irrelevant as the General`s Prosecutor Office would be the central recipient in all cases. The preferred means of communication include regular mail, email or fax.

The Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan has main role in developing the legislative framework and also the organizational tasks within the government sector regarding codification and the legal reforms. The Ministry is in cooperation with the State Security Service and the Ministry of Communication and High Technologies in order to continuously evaluate and, where necessary, develop the legislative basis of the fight against cybercrime.

As the Ministry of Justice is responsible for legislative policy development and drafting new legislation, it cooperates and consults also with private sector. There are different committees and working groups where private sector entities have appointed their representatives. When draft laws are being elaborated, private sector is consulted and debates take place. Draft laws are also publicly accessible at the National Assembly website and private sector has possibility to participate in the process and submit opinions and comments.

At the stage of trial proceedings, the Ministry of Justice is the competent authority for international cooperation on cybercrime and electronic evidence. A clear indication of the legal basis for the request is necessary; otherwise, reciprocity is a prerequisite in the form of express written assurance of reciprocity from the requesting State. Preferred means of communication include regular mail, email or fax.

The Ministry of Transport, Communication and High Technologies of Azerbaijan is the government entity that is supervising telecommunication, information society, e-government, postal services, radio/television services, as well as personal data. It is the main driver in the process of evaluating and adopting legislation to the changing needs of the country and the industry. In this framework the Ministry has recently developed a draft legislation to request Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to register, for quality assurance and consumer protection reasons.

The Ministry of Communication and High Technologies has established a cybersecurity board to involve the ISPs in the legislative process to express opinions on draft texts, as well as to share information about threats and trends related to cybersecurity. Meetings with the private sector entities take place occasionally, and there is a mailing lists on points of contact to disseminate information.

The Ministry of Transport, Communication and High Technologies hosts the Cyber Security Service CERT.AZ, which is a government entity that is established under the Ministry. CERT.AZ is a member of FIRST and Trusted Introducer. The main role of the CERT.AZ is to define and detect cyber threats and to collect and analyse data to serve the interests of the public and the private sector. CERT is also active in education and presenting threat awareness information through its website, social networks, and offline through flyers and booklets.

As a part of the Ministry of Transport, Communication and High Technologies, the Cyber Security Service CERT.AZ has a role with regard to the supervising of the processing of personal data in information systems, as a part of the general data protection mandate of the Ministry.