Morocco Unveils Major Reforms to Criminal Code, Enhancing Citizens’ Rights

Morocco has embarked on the path of a comprehensive reform of the Penal Code, aimed at protecting citizens against any abuse of power and guaranteeing them the right to defense. Speaking on the subject before the House of Councillors, Minister of Justice Abdellatif Ouahbi provided details on the content of the new text, the publication of which is scheduled for the first half of 2023.

Among the amendments, the minister cited in particular the protection of citizens against social media, specifying that according to the new law, the citizen has the right to sue anyone who has photographed him and to demand compensation. Also, for the first time, the new text provides for the criminalization of the usurpation of a journalist’s identity. No one can be a journalist unless they have the professional card issued by the National Press Council, he specified.

According to him, the text in preparation includes a set of issues that address the shortcomings of the current law and remain linked to individual and collective freedoms, the fight against crime and the support for the evolution of the modern criminal justice system. These amendments also concern the issue of abortion, and the issue of child marriage.

In a recent statement to the press, Ouahbi had announced the criminal law bill in its new form by April 2023, revealing that his ministry had completed the drafting of the first draft of the comprehensive and integrated revision of the criminal law group.