Morocco Reforms Adoption Law, Expanding Rights for Prospective Parents

This text aims to allow the person wishing to ensure the kafala of an abandoned child to make observations regarding the content of reports prepared by the competent authorities responsible for conducting the investigations and inquiries provided for in this article, said Mustapha Baitas, Minister Delegate in charge of Relations with Parliament and Government Spokesperson, during a legislative session. According to his explanations, these investigations and inquiries allow the judge to order the cancellation of the kafala, thus contributing to the consecration of the right of the person in charge of the Kafala to a fair trial and the rights of defense.

As a reminder, this bill had previously been presented and examined during the Government Council meeting on December 29, 2022. The government approved the text by adding the procedural requirement that the person providing kafala must be heard by the juvenile judge before ordering the cancellation of the care, the minister noted, adding that this measure guarantees this person the conditions of a fair trial and the right to defense, as stipulated by Articles 23 and 120 of the Constitution. Given the rights of the child subject to kafala to legal and judicial protection guaranteed by the Constitution and international conventions, it is appropriate to add a certain degree of flexibility to the adoption of this procedure in order to mitigate its mandatory nature, whenever the situation of this child requires urgent judicial intervention to protect them, he added.

According to him, the procedural restriction introduced in this bill could harm the best interests of the child subject to kafala by lengthening the procedure. "This situation does not achieve the required judicial efficiency, especially when the person providing kafala resides abroad or cannot be summoned," he specified, emphasizing that "to achieve a balance between the rights of the person providing kafala and the rights of the child in care, its effects must be mitigated if necessary, by allowing the judge to order the cancellation of the kafala without hearing the person providing it."