A study by the National Human Rights Council (CNDH), in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, called for a review of the legal framework governing the rights of refugees and migrants in Morocco.
This study on foreigners’ access to justice in Morocco, the results of which were presented on Tuesday in Rabat during a workshop organized by the CNDH, recommends the adoption of a law on immigration and asylum, as well as inclusion, in the legal framework regulating the status of refugees and immigrants in Morocco in a clear and detailed manner, the procedures by which they can assert their rights, including the right to obtain specialized legal advice, including legal assistance.
With regard to legal and judicial assistance, the study calls for updating the text organizing legal assistance dating from 1966 and adapting it to current legal and judicial systems and to emerging concepts of the rule of law. , while simplifying the rules and procedures for taking legal action, making legal and judicial information available and facilitating access to justice.
Similarly, the study recommends the strengthening of legal and judicial assistance mechanisms and their extension to include the stages preceding legal action through advice and guidance and the encouragement of recourse to alternative means of dispute settlement.
In relation to the notification, the study underlined the importance of providing special procedures for the notification of decisions rendered against foreigners relating to Law 02.03 with the establishment of a unified procedure for the duration of the appeal. so that the foreigner does not feel overdue by suing the administration, or by specifying the time limit for appeal according to the mode of notification.
She also recommends increasing the number of sworn translators, adding new specializations and promoting networking with associations working in the field of immigration, and creating a network of specialized translators in English, Spanish and French or certain languages in which there is a shortage of specialist translators, in particular local languages in countries in sub-Saharan Africa and certain countries in Eastern Europe, Asian languages and the Turkish language, as well as the use technologies and the implementation of remote translation.
Facilitating foreigners’ access to justice requires, according to the study, a revision of the law on legal aid, as well as training programs for judges, including the law governing the status of foreigners, while by promoting the continuous training of judges in the application of international human rights conventions, as well as the publication of court decisions and bringing administrative justice closer to litigants.
In a speech delivered on this occasion, the president of the CNDH, Amina Bouayach, indicated that this study was able to assess and document the situation of foreigners in Morocco, in relation to the right to access to justice and identified certain aspects of with regard to the specific problems of access to rights encountered by foreigners.
Regarding the recommendations, the study reiterated those of the annual reports of the CNDH, since 2019 especially that relating to the adoption of the bill governing the rights of refugees and migrants in Morocco, Bouayach underlined.
Also, she called for the establishment of a structure of legal advice for foreigners, including legal assistance, aimed at disseminating legal information as well as legal assistance, while taking care to soak up the comparative legal systems.
For his part, the UNHCR Representative in Morocco, François Rebeyt-Degat, praised the continuous work of the CNDH, in collaboration with its partners, so that “foreigners enjoy their rights” in the same way as Moroccan citizens.
And to note that this study is able to provide a clear vision on the improvement of the conditions of access of foreigners to justice, underlining that it presents important recommendations to overcome the existing legal challenges.
This study aims to identify the persistent challenges for foreign litigants and to formulate recommendations to improve the effectiveness of access to justice for all.
The participants in this meeting discussed various subjects articulated around four main axes, namely, “presentation of the executive summary of the study: access to justice for foreigners”, “the legal framework relating to access to justice for foreigners”, “the challenges for effective access to justice based on feedback from the association Gadem” and “the experience of the association Droit et Justice in supporting foreigners in their interactions with the justice system”
