The open for changes

Rabat – Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi said that Morocco's Code for Criminal Law was not an inviolable text, but a legal framework for revision.

In a study meeting in the House of Representatives on Thursday, he found that the courts are on ongoing challenges, especially in the implementation of reforms and the establishment of a national DNA database.

Ouahbi dismissed The idea that changes to the law are based on personal initiatives. Instead, he emphasized that these changes always come from government decisions.

He recognized the opposition to the current draft and pointed out that tax authorities, administrators and security officers expressly concern all concerns. “To achieve a consensus means to compromise,” he said.

One of the most important debates revolves around the police surveys. Some suggest to turn in every examination level, but strict punishments for leaky case files remain a climbing point, with potential sentences reaching for 20 years.

Ouahbi questioned the feasibility of such measures. “Can we expect lawyers to take such risks? Even a two- or five-year prison sentence would be too much. How many police stations are there in every district? How many examination units are there in every city? Who ensures continuous recording and under what conditions? “

The minister has started testing the courtroom records at the Rabat Court of Assises, with documents being transcribed into a written form. Ouahbi said the authorities will evaluate the effectiveness of this system before considering a more comprehensive implementation.

However, there are concerns about the accuracy. “If the machine makes a mistake, who takes on responsibility? If the transcript contains unintentional content, what happens then? If we assign a monitor, does this person have the authority to convert spoken words into official records? “

Ouahbi also dealt with the demonstrations of the crime scene and claimed that suspects should not be forced into such procedures.

As part of the digitization of the judiciary, the courts provide specialized offices to process electronic case files. These offices will contain safe computers that are only accessible to prosecutors and are associated with important state institutions and banks. However, court presidents have expressed concerns about control over these systems.

With regard to legal access to records, Ouahbi questioned whether lawyers should be entitled to apply for financial documents in cases such as maintenance disputes. The minister also touched the proposed National DNA database, in which it was found that the officials do not yet have to decide whether they should fall under the Ministry of Justice or the law enforcement authorities. In addition, the concerns regarding data protection remain of central importance for this debate.

Ouahbi came with the recognition of the complexity of the reform. “Either I push these texts forward, leave some gaps unresolved, or I step aside for someone else without knowing whether they would be able to pass them on at all.”