Fez.. Minister of Justice has detailed varieties of alternative punishments and scope of their application
Minister of Justice Mr. Abdellatif Ouahbi has defined varieties of alternative punishments, for the sake of public interest, and this includes electronic monitoring, restrictions of some rights or imposing some monitoring, therapeutic or rehabilitation measures, and daily fines.
Concerning public interest, Minister Ouahbi confirmed at the opening meeting organized by the center of public dialogue and modern studies last Friday October 27, 2023 in Fez, about the topic “alternative punishments in the core of justice reform workshop”, that it is an alternative punishment which consists of the convict doing a task which benefits the society as a redemption for a mistake he has done on free basis (not in paying basis).
About sentences application, Minister Ouahbi has made clear that those convicts who are sentenced to 15 years imprisonment minimum on the date of the sentence issuance will do a non-paid task for a period varying between 40 and 3600 hours for the state interest, for territorial communes, or institutions and bodies concerned with human rights protection, freedoms and good governance or for public institutions and charity institutions, mosques or other non-government associations and bodies.
Regarding electronic monitoring, Minister Ouahbi has highlighted that this alternative was recently created in penal policy and it is the result of technology progress as practiced in most modern penal regimes.
About daily fines, Minister of Justice has made clear that justice courts could rule of daily fines to be paid instead of a freedom-depriving punishment; the amount of money will be defined by the court for each day out of the imprisonment period; and which should not exceed five years firm imprisonment.
The daily fine was defined, according to Minister Ouahbi, between MAD 100 and MAD 2000 per each day of the imprisonment period; this alternative should be ruled only after a reconciliation or a waiver issued by the victim or his relatives, or a compensation be paid by the convict to repair damages resulted by the crime.
