Participants in Colloquium on the Government Bill on Civil Procedure Stress the Importance of Reforming the Justice System and Enhancing Judicial Efficiency
The Justice, Legislation, and Human Rights Committee of the House of Representatives organized, in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, a Colloquium on Government Bill 02.23 on the Civil Procedure Code.
The Colloquium, which coincides with the continuation of the in-depth discussion of the articles of the Government Bill within the Justice, Legislation, and Human Rights Committee, aims to enrich the public debate and enable the exchange of opinions and ideas with a view to producing a text with higher quality that responds to the aspirations of citizens and all users of justice.
On this occasion, Rep. Mohammed Ouzzine delivered an address on behalf of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami, in which he expressed the importance of this meeting, which is part of the integration and dialogue approach adopted by the House of Representatives when examining bills and questions that impact a large scope of society, noting that this would help achieve consensus on these texts and facilitate the most effective implementation of their provisions.
He stressed that the Government Bill on Civil Procedure, as a central text in national legislation, seeks, in addition to the traditional objectives of each text, to ensure the proper functioning of justice, guarantee the unity of the judiciary, regulate international jurisdiction, achieve judicial efficiency, protect the rights of litigants, adopt digitalization in litigation and procedures, and anchor the independence of the judiciary.
He also noted this is a text with multiple and fundamental stakes that fall within the context of the major reforms led and sponsored by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may Allah assist him. In addition to safeguarding human rights through a fair trial, guaranteeing the rights of all parties, ensuring the implementation of judgments, and expediting procedures, this legal text will have positive repercussions on the investment climate in the Kingdom by contributing to making our country more attractive and enhancing the confidence of investors in it, especially since it already has an advanced and open legal arsenal in the field of investments regulated by the National Charter.
For his part, the Minister of Justice, Mr. Abdellatif Ouahbi stressed that the Government Bill on Civil Procedure was drafted according to a participatory methodology with various ministries and public administrations. He also pointed out that the basis of this project is the arrangement of responsibilities between the various parties involved in the judicial process.
Besides, the Minister of Justice highlighted that in line with the digital developments in the world, Government Bill 02.23 includes a section on the digitalization of judicial procedures and measures, in order to facilitate and advance litigation procedures and keep pace with the transformations associated with digital technology. In the same context, he underscored the importance of the efficient management of judicial time.
He added that the Government Bill on Civil Procedure also includes a set of provisions related to limiting the deadline for appealing judgments to 15 days in a range of cases, issuing and enforcing judgments within reasonable deadlines, and protecting the rights of litigants.
For his part, the Chairperson of the Justice, Legislation, and Human Rights Committee, Rep. Said Baaziz, stressed that the organization of this Colloquium falls within the framework of the Royal directives contained in the Royal message on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the establishment of the Moroccan Parliament, which aims to consolidate the culture of participation and dialogue and strengthen confidence in institutions. He explained that this gathering, which coincides with the in-depth discussion of the articles of the Government Bill within the Justice, Legislation, and Human Rights Committee, aims to open dialogue with the various actors in this system to elaborate the proposals to be submitted by Representatives on the Government Bill on Civil Procedure Code.
During the scientific sittings, the participants emphasized that the Government Bill translates the Royal vision that calls for increasing judicial efficiency by simplifying procedures and rendering them further transparent, raising the quality of judgments and judicial services, establishing a new concept of justice by creating a space at the service of the citizen, and implementing the contents of the 2011 Constitution through legislative harmonization with international conventions and the recommendations of the Judicial Reform Charter. The participants also noted that the Government Bill on Civil Procedure is a soft revolution in the legislative process of the Kingdom, especially at the substantive level of the law that affects the areas of judicial unity and preservation of jurisdiction and comprehensiveness of judicial organization to facilitate a fair and efficient access to the judiciary and pave the way for digital judiciary.
During this meeting, which was attended by parliamentarians, institutional actors, professionals, researchers, and academics, the participants made some observations regarding the specific jurisdiction, the decisive rulings on the plea as to lack of jurisdiction, pleas of inadmissibility, the difficulty of requesting an appeal, and the importance of informed access to the Court of Cassation as an important source of unification of judicial work, interpretation of the legal rule, and unification of jurisprudence.
Besides, the participants also shed light on the challenges of expanding the scope of the oral procedure, the importance of optimizing the structure of the text, its language, and some concepts, and overcoming the imbalances revealed by practice, jurisprudence, and some jurisprudential opinions.
The speakers explained that the Bill also includes a set of novelties aimed at reviewing the current law in order to update its provisions in line with the social and economic changes witnessed by Moroccan society by stipulating legal provisions that will improve and ameliorate this legal text, especially the changes in the notification procedures. The participants also reviewed the novelties related to the legalization and control of appeals in a way that reduces their number in order to ensure fair access to justice, in addition to the adoption of electronic media in litigation in line with the digital developments that the world is witnessing.
Moreover, the participants made several observations and proposals regarding the jurisdiction of commercial and administrative courts, as well as the provisions and principles related to notification and enforcement procedures, as well as the need to stipulate the protection of the private life of litigants while respecting the principle of the right to litigation, equality with regard to appeals, and the importance of setting a maximum limit for some fines.
The participants also highlighted the role of the clerk's office in enshrining the principle of judicial time management in accordance with the new Government Bill on Civil Procedure. In this respect, the participants noted the importance of the clerk's office in the formalities of the proceedings to avoid wasting judicial time and to optimize the management of hearings and the procedures followed after the issuance of the judgment.
The participants also stressed that the spirit and essence of the novelties brought by this legislative text reflect the desire and will to respond to the Judicial Reform Charter, taking advantage of the rich and creditable accumulations of the Moroccan judiciary and the elements of efficiency and wisdom it possesses, and interacting positively with the rapid developments in the field of digital technology, in addition to new developments in defense rights, methods of appeal, and notification and enforcement procedures.
As regards the role of stakeholders in the justice system, the participants emphasized the importance of the profession of judicial expertise and the most important constraints and obstacles faced by the judicial expert, where a set of proposals were presented to amend the articles regulating this expertise.
In the same context, they underscored that the civil procedure also concerns the profession of Adouls (Islamic law notaries), calling for reviewing and revising the formulation of some texts and provisions related to divorce and repudiation within the framework of the reform of the justice system and increasing judicial efficiency.
The speakers also stressed the important and central role of the bailiff and urged to recall the reality of professional practice and the challenges it faces within the framework of the notification and execution process, which requires adherence to the principles and rules that would achieve judicial efficiency.
The meeting also called for involving all actors in the justice system in making comments and proposals that would improve the Government Bill on Civil Procedure under examination, as it is one of the most important bills regulating judicial work and is closely linked to the rights enshrined in the Kingdom's Constitution.
