 The Law on Political Parties in Azerbaijan raises serious concerns. The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, ODIHR, have released a joint opinion on Azerbaijan's new law on political parties. The document describes in detail the flaws and problematic provisions arising from the law. In the joint opinion, provisions, such as increasing the minimum number of political party members from 1,000 to 5,000 people, re-registration of already-registered parties, banning the activities of parties without state registration, excessive interference of the Ministry of Justice in the activities of political parties are criticised in the joint opinion. It should be noted that the inconsistency of these provisions mentioned in the law with international human rights conventions is a cause for concern. The joint opinion of the Venice Commission and the ODIHR reminds that freedom of association and expression should be the basis of democratic societies and, in this sense, political parties should be viewed as means of collective political expression. It is stated in the tradition that state control over political parties should be limited to their registration and registration requests should be treated positively. The joint opinion emphasises that the requirement of the number of members and even the list of members from political parties is an unnecessary and limiting factor. The joint opinion of the Venice Commission and the ODIHR states that the suspension and dissolution of political parties may be allowed only in cases where these parties have seriously violated the law. The Venice Commission and ODIHR call on Azerbaijan to eliminate the deficiencies specified in the law. For example, it is recommended to return the minimum number of members to 1,000 people for political parties. The joint opinion also recommends minimising the documents required for the registration of political parties. The Venice Commissioners' opinion states that the principle of state financing of political parties in accordance with the number of seats in the parliament should be revised. According to the joint opinion, political parties should disclose the names of sponsors only if the donations exceed certain legal norms. The new law on political parties in Azerbaijan was adopted at the end of 2022 and entered into force on January 11, 2023.