The Association of Lawyers of Azerbaijan (ALA) was founded on May 20, 1997. The ALA’s constituent documents were submitted to the Ministry of Justice on June 12, 1997. The Ministry responded with a letter dated September 5, 1997 stating that registration had been denied. The ALA filed an appeal to the Sabail district court, which ruled in favor of the Ministry of Justice on December 29, 1997.

The ALA felt that the decisions of the Ministry of Justice and the Sabail district court were unfounded, but wanted to avoid spending time and money in court. Therefore, the organization conducted a seminar February 16, 1998 in which all the Ministry of Justice’s comments were taken into consideration, changes were made in the charter and new constituent documents were prepared and then submitted to the Ministry of Justice on March 10, 1998. Soon after, the Ministry again denied the ALA registration. The ALA subsequently filed an appeal, which is now waiting to be heard in the Sabail regional court.

However, these registration problems have not stopped the ALA from carrying out a program of activities which includes:

1. educating the population in legal matters;
2. improving legislation;
3. defending fundamental rights and freedoms;
4. providing assistance to NGOs and independent media;
5. increasing the professionalism of lawyers and law students;
6. creating a network of lawyers.

As a result of the ALA’s activities in these areas, several publications have been produced, including "Court statements of lawyers in Azerbaijan" and "A collection of regulations of the Plenum of the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan." At present, members of the ALA are working on several new publications. A member of the board has also prepared and offered a course on advocacy at the Hazar University.

Members of the ALA have taken part in a wide variety of international law-related seminars in different countries. Representatives of many organizations have shown an interest in the work of the ALA and have met with members on a number of occasions.

On June 30, 1998, the ALA, together with the National Democratic Institute, organized a seminar entitled "The problems of registration and the activities of NGOs in Azerbaijan."

Unfortunately, the lack of an office, equipment and financial resources has hindered the ALA from expanding its scope and functioning more effectively.