Government council adopts draft canceling special court of justice
Morocco, Judicial, 1/7/2004

The government council, convened in Rabat Tuesday under the chairmanship of Premier Driss Jettou, adopted a draft law canceling the Special Court of Justice and transferring its prerogatives to appeal courts.

The Special Court of Justice, based in Rabat, is a jurisdiction of exception set up in 1972 to sanction fund misuse by civil servants or magistrates, when the amount of money embezzled or misappropriated equals or is higher than 25,000 dirhams (nearly US$ 2,500)

In a press briefing following the meeting, Communication minister and spokesman for the government, Nabil Benabdellah, said the draft is part of the reforms aimed at modernizing the kingdom's judicial organization, easing citizens' access to justice and improving moral standards of public officials.

The move to cancel the court and transfer its prerogatives to specialized chambers of appeal courts, made up of qualified and experienced magistrates, confirms our country's judicial advance and its will to establish equality between citizens, by granting them the same rights and through the principle of power separation, said the spokesman.

The minister recalled King Mohammed VI's speech of January 29, 2003 announcing a package of measures to reform justice: "Our objective is to create a specialized justice that, in addition to an efficient settlement of disputes, will guarantee the right to a fair trial and to citizens' equality before the law in all circumstances and in all cases. Therefore, We order Our government to study the situation of the Special Court of Justice and to submit to us proposals and conclusions. In this endeavor, they should bear in mind the paramount necessity to set in place a jurisdiction specialized in financial offenses, in order to moralize public life, protect public finances against all kinds of corrupt practices and engrain in the minds the culture and ethics of accountability."

The government council also adopted other drafts providing for tougher sanctions for some financial crimes, mainly by adding fining and confiscation in case of concussion, corruption, trading of influence and public or private funds skimming, Benabdellah said.

In the modernization of the Moroccan judicial framework, the spokesman said the five tribunals of first instance of Casablanca will be merged into one.

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