Morocco: these notaries outside the law

Of the total reports, nearly a thousand files have been referred to the public prosecutor’s offices and 3,866 to the Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (CDG). The authorities’ response has been immediate: 16 temporary suspensions and 7 permanent bans on practice have been issued this year. On the judicial level, the noose is also tightening. Fifteen notaries have been subject to criminal prosecution, resulting in prison sentences for four of them. To date, 26 professionals in the sector are sleeping behind bars.

This drift has a high price for the profession. The Notaries’ Guarantee Fund had to disburse 46 million dirhams to compensate the victims in 2025. An amount that worries the minister, who refuses to see this organization turn into a "compensation fund for victims of misappropriation" at the expense of training. Firm, Abdellatif Ouahbi brushed aside any idea of mediation for the implicated notaries, stressing that "conciliation initiatives generally do not succeed".

To secure transactions and eradicate land spoliation, the government is preparing the creation of a national register of wills. This new technical tool aims to make the falsification of official documents virtually impossible. By strengthening the disciplinary mechanisms and guaranteeing the impartiality of the controls, the Ministry of Justice hopes to sustainably clean up a profession that remains an essential pillar of legal security in Morocco.