Morocco’s Top Prosecutor Pushes for Alternatives to Pre-Trial Detention

"The Presidency of the Public Prosecutor’s Office will spare no effort to rationalize pre-trial detention as a strategic orientation, emphasizing the need to adopt new alternatives to pre-trial detention," said El Hassan Daki, stressing that the public prosecutor’s office could go as far as legislative amendments to the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure.

"This will certainly contribute to reducing the pre-trial detention rate in Morocco," he assures in the presence of members of the Tétouan Bar Association, magistrates and representatives of the legal professions and the Moroccan Observatory of Prisons.

The Attorney General of the King at the Court of Cassation insisted on the sacredness of the right to individual freedom enshrined in the Moroccan constitution before recalling that the public prosecutor’s office takes into account the fundamental interests of the subject of law, before issuing orders for pre-trial detention.

According to him, the prosecution seeks a balance between the individual’s right to freedom and the right of society to safety and security, through the fight against crime. "It is a difficult balance to achieve, and the right decision is not easy to make," admits Daki, noting that the sole determination of the public prosecutor’s office cannot lead to a reduction in the pre-trial detention rate.

Because, explains the head of the judiciary, several multiple factors determine the pre-trial detention rate. They are notably related to the number of detainees, the convoluted legal definition of the term "detainee" and the pace of settlement of detainees’ cases. For example, the implementation of the state of health emergency increased the pre-trial detention rate by 45% in 2020, leading the Moroccan justice system to adopt the strategic choice of remote trials, which allowed the release of more than 12,000 people, continues the president of the public prosecutor’s office.

In Morocco, the total prison population stood at 84,990 people in 2020. Only 15,359 people had not been the subject of a first instance decision on the execution of a custodial sentence, or 18%, which is the actual pre-trial detention rate, according to the definition adopted by the United Nations and in comparative laws.