Morocco Cracks Down on Illegal Transfers of Communal Lands

The governor, director of rural affairs at the Ministry of the Interior, Abdelmajid El Hankari, warned against illegal transactions involving lands belonging to soulaliyate communities. In a recent circular, the authority has given clear instructions to strengthen the protection of these lands, reports Le Matin. According to Law No. 62.17 on administrative guardianship over soulaliyate communities and the management of their property, as well as the provisions of the Real Rights Code and Article 540 of the Penal Code, soulaliyate lands benefit from special protection and can only be transferred in the specific cases provided for by law, he recalls.

In his note, the official denounces the multiplication of these illegal transactions between individuals which are then the subject of signature legalizations by the services of certain local authorities, in violation of the texts in force, in particular Article 4 of the Real Rights Code. Governor El Hankari stresses the null and void nature of the legalization of these transactions relating to soulaliyate properties, which falls in principle within the competence of notaries, adouls and lawyers, and not of local authorities.

The agents who carry out these legalizations are liable to legal proceedings under Article 36 of Law No. 62.17 which punishes "with imprisonment of one to five years and a fine of 10,000 to 100,000 dirhams any person who has participated in any capacity whatsoever in the establishment of documents relating to the transfer, concession or enjoyment of land belonging to a soulaliyate community in contradiction with the legal provisions in force, or who has established or participated in the establishment of acts removing the community character from land belonging to a soulaliyate community, in violation of the legislative and regulatory texts in force".