Minister of Justice, Mr. Abdellatif Ouahbi has confirmed that the Moroccan Kingdom is willing to continue deep reforms in the human rights field, under His Majesty’s King Mohammed VI’s wise leadership.
The Justice Minister added during a bilateral meeting, on the margins of official 49th working sessions of the UNHRC in Geneva, held last Monday, February 28, 2022, with Mrs. Barbara Birnat (sic), President of the association for the prevention of torture and Mrs. Keitry Bilay (sic) high-level representative of the anti-torture initiative agreement, that the Moroccan Kingdom’s Ministry of Justice is willingly determined to go ahead with legal reforms our country is witnessing at many levels particularly in the justice sector.
The Minister has clarified that the Moroccan Kingdom through the Justice Ministry is determined to carry out important changes in the penal code policy through amending bill projects which concern both civil and penal code procedures and also the penal code.
One the other hand, the Minister has highlighted the outcome of progress and major projects Morocco is leading in the field of women and child’s rights, asserting that the Ministry is determined to take important administrative and procedural measures that will reinforce the rights of women and child, especially inside courts of justice in matters which concern them.
Regarding human rights in general, Minister Ouahbi has raised the important legal measures which will be integrated in both civil and penal code bills and the penal law; since those amendments address the reinforcement of fair trial and ensuring all new legal guarantees at the level of freedoms and rights.
In the same context, the Justice Minister has made a brief presentation about transformations being witnessed by the Kingdom’s justice courts infrastructures, including courts premises and their modern facilities which respond to the Kingdom’s aspirations to safeguard litigants rights and guaranteeing women integrity during litigation, in addition to other expected roles and services to be offered by social assistants and the rehabilitation of reception services presented to women at family status courts; and also by reinforcing the judiciary outreach at residents judges’ courts in further rural areas.
In the same orientation, Minister of Justice has highlighted the great attention the Moroccan Kingdom is paying to Southern provinces at the level of development in general and the justice courts’ infrastructures in particular.
In addition, Minister of Justice has stressed the great interest Morocco is giving, under His Majesty’s leadership to cooperation at the African level and to His Majesty’s directives to south – south cooperation with great interest; including his instruction to settle the condition of immigrants from sub-Saharan countries inside the Moroccan Kingdom.
From their sides, both international legal officials have praised the legal efforts undertaken by the Moroccan Kingdom and the major projects and reforms steps made by the Kingdom in the field of human rights in general and the progress of women rights in particular as well as the efforts made to ban torture in Morocco and the expected reforms in consolidating new regulations arsenal the Ministry of Justice is intending to implement.