Morocco’s Anti-Corruption Bill Advances in Parliament, Vote Expected Soon

The final deadline for the submission of amendments by parliamentary groups and groupings is set for February 2. This will be followed by the vote in committee, after the government’s approval, then the adoption in plenary session, informs the daily Al Akhbar, indicating that draft law 46-19 has faced strong criticism, both from parliamentarians, lawyers, and public opinion, as many of its clauses are a source of controversy. For example, the power granted to members and commissioners mandated by the authority to undertake investigations and inquiries that fall within the domain of the judiciary, without them having the status of judicial police officers.

The text under study indeed authorizes the members of the Authority or its commissioners to carry out investigations, conduct inquiries and draw up reports. They also have the power to carry out unannounced inspection visits to the premises and headquarters of public persons and the premises of private law professional organizations. This is something that parliamentarians do not approve of at all, just like the lawyers who point out that it encroaches on a domain exclusively reserved for the judiciary, since the members and commissioners of the INPPLC do not have the status of judicial police.

Despite all these grievances, the text contains real progress in the fight against corruption, notes the daily, indicating that one of its main innovations is a broader definition of corruption. Currently limited to "any crime of corruption, influence peddling, embezzlement and misappropriation, as provided for by the law in force and any other crime of corruption provided for by special legislation", the definition of corruption has been expanded through this draft law to also include "administrative and financial offenses".

And then, a new and major fact, the text endows the Authority with the power of self-referral, thus allowing it to give its opinion on its own initiative. This is not allowed by the current law in force, under which the INPPLC can only give an opinion on "any program, measure, project or initiative aimed at preventing or combating corruption" at the request of the government or Parliament.