Morocco Ombudsman Ignored by State Administrations

A citizen contests a decision, demands payment, or awaits the execution of a judgment. After failing to obtain a response, they turn to the Kingdom’s Ombudsman. Yet the silence can persist even before this institution tasked with defending citizens against the administration.

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In 2025, the Ombudsman sent 1,304 reminder letters to administrations that had still not responded two months after being contacted. This number has increased compared to the 1,158 reminders sent in 2024. In total, 4,316 initial letters were sent to the relevant services during the year.

This slowness occurs while Moroccans have never been more numerous in seeking the institution’s help. The Kingdom’s Ombudsman 2025 annual report records 9,958 cases, compared to 7,948 a year earlier, representing an increase of 25.29%.

Not all these cases constitute complaints. The total includes 6,770 grievances within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction, 3,157 requests for guidance toward the appropriate procedure or body, and 31 requests for amicable settlement. The number of grievances has more than doubled since 2019, when 3,339 cases had been registered.

Even the Ombudsman Must Follow Up

Financial problems top the list of dispute reasons, with 2,528 grievances. They are followed by administrative difficulties, representing 2,387 cases. Access to social programs generated 623 complaints, and land disputes 544 others.

The report also records 337 grievances related to non-execution or delayed execution of judgments rendered against the administration. In these situations, the citizen has sometimes already won their case in court but must undertake new steps for the decision to be actually implemented.

The Ministry of Interior leads the affected sectors with 1,918 cases. It is ahead of Justice, with 1,421 cases, and Economy and Finance, with 1,288. Territorial authorities total 674 cases, followed by Energy Transition, National Education, Health, and several public bodies.

To resolve the most complex situations, the Ombudsman scheduled 767 investigation and research sessions, of which 690 were actually organized. The institution also issued 5,696 decisions in 2025.

Among the financial cases examined, 768 resulted in a settlement decision. In administrative matters, 495 settlements were pronounced. These results show that the Ombudsman’s intervention can succeed, but also that many citizens must travel a long road before obtaining a response or regularizing their situation.

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The increase in complaints may reflect better awareness of the Ombudsman’s role. It also reveals the persistence of very concrete obstacles: unexplained decisions, unpaid sums, delayed documents, unexecuted judgments, or denied access to certain social programs. More concerning still, the institution charged with restoring dialogue must sometimes itself wait and follow up with the administration.