Moroccan Lawyers Challenge Constitutionality of New Vaccine Pass Mandate

The government took a decision on October 18 to impose the vaccine pass on citizens. According to this document, the unvaccinated will not be able to access public and private administrations, public and private transport, hotels and tourist establishments, restaurants, cafes, etc., nor travel between cities and provinces.

Based on the provisions of the Moroccan Constitution, the Bar Association considers that the imposition of the vaccine pass raises many legal and legal problems in the sense that it infringes on the enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms (chapter 19), freedom of movement (chapter 24), freedoms of assembly (chapter 29), equality between citizens and access of citizens to public facilities (article 154).

To read: Morocco Expands Vaccine Pass Mandate for Public Spaces and Travel

This decision violates the Constitution, the Bar Association asserts, especially since it prevents citizens from enjoying their rights. "The exceptional context that our country is going through due to the state of health emergency [...] should not justify the adoption of decisions involving the withdrawal of achievements in the field of human rights..., as they infringe on constitutional rights and go against the charters, declarations and international pacts ratified by Morocco. Moreover, there is no urgency given the improvement of the epidemiological situation in the country," it said in a statement.

To read: Morocco’s Vaccine Pass Mandate Sparks Public Outcry and Online Protests

Similarly, the Bar Association insists on "the absence of a legal basis to prevent citizens from benefiting from vital public services," specifying that according to article 3 of the decree declaring the state of health emergency, "all necessary measures required by this state [...] do not prevent the guarantee of the continuity of vital public services and the services provided to users by them". Moreover, it warns, "legislation in areas related to fundamental rights and freedoms remains an original competence entrusted to Parliament according to article 71 of the Constitution," thus emphasizing "the danger of adopting the obligation of the vaccine pass by a government decision that was announced by an information dispatch".

In view of these shortcomings, the Bar Association calls for "the cancellation of this sudden decision, which contradicts the principle of non-compulsory vaccination, and the announcement made by the emergency committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) which expressed its opposition to the request for vaccination certificates against Covid-19 as a condition of travel".