While the general strike continues at the level of all judicial bodies nationwide and the Ministry of Justice does not seem to be able to limit the damage, the adala association announced in a statement of public opinion the launch of a campaign to defend the independence of the legal profession.
The Moroccan NGO which works in favor of the right to a fair trial and the independence of the judiciary, indicates in its statement that “the Adala Executive Office is following with great concern the blatant and systematic attack on the legal profession by the current government in all forms of legislative and fiscal restrictions in a blatant swipe to respect rule-based stacking consultation and negotiations, which were set up decades ago, between the government and each of its institutions and between the Moroccan Bar Association as the official addressee even during the constitutional amendment”.
The Association adds that this is a “complete marginalization of the participatory approach, which is the greatest pillar for the success of any reform, which has been proven throughout history as we live through the fiercest struggle we have waged for the independence of justice and reform”.
On this occasion, the NGO wanted to remind the Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi, that the independence of the legal profession is established and reinforced in a rule of law where respect for human rights prevails. ” It requires respect for the protectors of these rights, in particular male and female lawyers, this protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms requires the independence of the judiciary and the independence of the lawyer as partners in the management of the judicial system and in the maintenance of the edifice of rights in the State, which must respect and guarantee human rights for all“, we read in the statement.
For activists, protecting and respecting the independence of lawyers is above all the responsibility of the State and its three powers, and it is incumbent upon it to ensure the appropriate conditions for lawyers in the exercise of their professional function without hindrance or interference, and guarantees of their protection from all attacks and of respect for their relationship with their clients and the confidentiality of their offices, files, works and communications“.
The Adala association considers that the PLF, in all the provisions on the profession of lawyer, is ” a flagrant violation of the principle of the independence of the lawyer and the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and all the rules and principles of independence referred to above and plans to spoil that independence, adding that this is a project ” in which the executive authority appears to grossly exploit its legislative role with the intention of influencing its independence“.
She then points out that youAll the bills that the Minister hastened to put in place unilaterally and in a Byzantine style without rules and foundations of the participatory approach, including civil procedure law, criminal law… confirm the failure of his management of the justice sector, and the lack of rigidity of his policy, his absolute misunderstanding of the concept of fiscal justice and his absence of a reformist vision which caused the alleged change he pronounced in all his professional functions, political and ministerial“.
As a result, the NGO concludes that the campaign will take place by forming a civil human rights front to support the struggles of the Moroccan Bar Association and the rest of the organizational frameworks, the holding of round tables on the proactive and comprehensive reform of the law regulating the profession of lawyer and tax law in a way that guarantees tax justice and does not affect the right of vulnerable groups to access justice and the preparation of a note pleadings and submit it to all the authorities concerned.