The House of Representatives adopted last Tuesday October 24, 2023, by a majority the project bill number 43.22 about alternative punishments; with 115 voices for, 41 against and 4 abstentions.
The Minister has stated that the alternative punishments project bill will constitute a qualitative addition to national legal arsenal and will therefore contribute to solve different problems faced by penitentiary establishments in our country.
Minister Ouahbi has praised efforts done by MPs who have participated in the discussion of the project bill for their responsibility and seriousness, reiterating his sincere thankfulness to the commission of justice, legislation and human rights for its permanent cooperation to accelerate the putting out of many legal texts in the service of the nation and of public interest.
The project bill, according to the Minister, has stirred a great deal of discussion among interested and concerned people from inside and outside the country, including in some regional and international forums; which is very interesting, though some sides have attempted to politicize the matter under tendentious slogans.
The Minister has reaffirmed that some considerations have been taken about fair application and no-discrimination of the project bill provisions for society individuals no matter what their social and economic situation is; in the same case as for alternative punishments of daily fines.
The Ministry of Justice has taken into consideration all the observations and proposals being made during the bill discussion before the justice legislation and human rights commission for the sake of a safe implementation of the bill provisions.
Minister Ouahbi has confirmed that the bill project aims at setting up a comprehensive legal framework for alternative punishments in accordance with penal law provisions in relation with punishment in general. The project bill, said Ouahbi “aims at finding solutions to simple crimes according to an approach of rehabilitation and reintegration far from prions to cultivate the spirit of civic culture, duty and commitment, in addition of course of limiting overcrowding condition inside Moroccan prison establishments whose population has exceeded 100 thousand prisoners, especially that half of that population has been sentenced to short terms; the fact which has great impact on many programs and services prepared by prison administration, and also the rise of budget costs for prisoners.”
The importance of this project bill does not concern only the problem of overcrowding, but reflects also the orientation of two supreme royal ambitious projects about the humanization of penal policy, including punishment policy, which His Majesty has, on many occasions, confirmed through his royal speeches and messages; and the second point is about the new development model which pays a great deal of attention to human elements, most particularly to young people’s participation in the cultivation of civism, initiative, commitment, rights and duties.