Morocco’s King Announces Major Overhaul of Family Code After 20 Years

The preparation of this reform has been entrusted to the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Council of the Judiciary and the Presidency of the Public Prosecutor’s Office. In his Royal Letter, Mohammed VI called for close collaboration with all stakeholders such as the Supreme Council of Ulema and the National Council for Human Rights, civil society, researchers and specialists in the field, etc.

The proposals resulting from these consultations will then be submitted for the Sovereign’s appreciation within a maximum period of six months. It is only after this step that the draft law will be drawn up and submitted to parliament, reports SNRT News.

Nearly two decades after the 2004 reform, voices have been raised calling for new reforms. "Since Our Accession to the Throne, We have strived to promote the status of women, by offering them all the possibilities for fulfillment and by granting them the place that rightfully belongs to them," Mohammed VI had declared in his speech of June 30, 2022.

The monarch has committed to initiating a new reform of the Moudawana, "in perfect harmony with the ultimate purposes of Islamic Law (Sharia) and the specificities of Moroccan society." And he added: "When women fully access their rights, they do not harm men, nor do they harm themselves..."