Morocco Considers Overhaul of Eminent Domain Laws to Protect Property Owners

The bill recently tabled by the USFP at the House of Representatives, intends to amend Articles 6, 10 and 23 of Law 7.81 on expropriation for public utility and temporary occupation. It will also extend the legal deadline granted to owners to become aware of the expropriation decision, reports Finance News Hebdo. Currently 2 months, "this deadline is insufficient to ensure the full rights of the owners. It is useful to review it upwards insofar as it presents no risk for the administration or the expropriating community," explains Chokrane Amam, president of the USFP parliamentary group at the House of Representatives.

In his speech delivered on the occasion of the opening of Parliament in 2016, King Mohammed VI had raised the issue, stating that "many citizens complain about expropriation cases, either because the State has not compensated them for their property, or because the compensation operation drags on for many years to the detriment of their interests or because the amount of compensation is below the prevailing sales and many other reasons".

"Most often, it is homes or agricultural land that are expropriated and are in joint ownership. The amount received by the persons concerned does not allow each of them to acquire their own property. They are forced to opt for rural exodus, with all the socio-economic problems that this entails," declares Nabil Haddaji, a lawyer at the Casablanca bar, who adds that "even after a good trial that can last at least three years between the court of first instance and the appeal, with all the expertise and counter-expertise that this requires, the judgments handed down for expropriation set compensation values well below the market".

This proposal to reform the law was initiated after several citizens demonstrated to contest the value and procedure of expropriation.