Land Code of Azerbaijan.

The scope of Land Code shall be to regulate land relations originating from application of different types of land ownership rights, including duties of landowners, tenants, leaseholders, protection of land rights, application of rational land tenure, restoration and improvement of soil fertility, land re-cultivation and improvement of natural environment. Land property shall envisage public, municipal and private ownership, that have equal status and are equally protected by the Law (Art. 4). Natural and legal persons of Azerbaijan can purchase and own land, while to foreigners (natural and legal persons) and stateless persons land can be allocated exclusively in tenancy on lease (Art. 48). The Act consists of XXIII sections divided into 113 Articles: (I) General provisions; (II) Unified land fund of the Azerbaijan Republic); (III) Agricultural land; (IV) Urban land; (V) Industrial land, land of transport, communications, defense and other land categories; (VI) Land of protected areas; (VII) Forest fund land, water fund land and reserved land; (VIII) Land protection; (IX) State regulation of tenure and protection of national land fund; (X) State supervision over land tenure and land protection; (XI) Right of land ownership by the state and by municipalities; (XII) Rights of natural and legal persons to land parcels; (XIII) Allocation of land plots in ownership, tenancy and lease; (XIV) Expropriation of land plots; (XV) Restrictions and cessation of the right of ownership, tenancy and lease of land plots; (XVI) State registration of land rights; (XVII) Rights and duties of owners, tenants and leaseholders; (XVIII) Transactions of plots of land; (XIX) Land valuation and establishment of land taxes; (XX) Compensation of losses to owners and tenants of agricultural land and forestland; (XXI) Dispute settlement; (XXII) Liability; and (XXIII) International agreements. All the land within the national boundaries shall form unified land fund. Classification of land into categories and transfer thereof from one category to another shall be carried out in an established order by a relevant body of executive authority. Land belonging to aquaculture farms, shall be retained in the category of lands to which they belong and shall not be transferred to other land categories (Art. 9). Agricultural land shall be used for agricultural production and processing of agricultural products, for scientific research, experimental and testing purposes related to agriculture (Art. 13). Suitability of land for agricultural purposes shall be determined by State Land Survey Service (Art. 17). Land subject to radioactive contamination and chemical pollution shall be transferred to reserve land for conservation. Agricultural production of such land shall be authorized after re-cultivation and rehabilitation (Art. 36). State management in the field of use and protection of state-owned land shall be carried out by relevant bodies of executive authority within the framework of their powers. (Art. 46). Land users can exercise their authority to transfer (sell) their right to use land to other persons in accordance with the relevant legislation of the Azerbaijan Republic (Art. 50). Alienation, as well as the provision for use or lease of privately owned land plots shall be carried out on the basis of an agreement signed between the parties in an order established by legislation and approved by a notary public (Art. 56). Land rights shall be subject to compulsory registration in the state register of immovable property with the issuance of certificate (Art. 66).
The rules for the provision, withdrawal and use of the lands of the water fund shall be established by the present Code, the Water Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan and other regulatory and legal acts of the Republic of Azerbaijan.