After lawyers’ anger… Wahbi defends civil procedure and its developments

Agadir24

During the presentation of draft law No. 02.23 on civil procedure, Minister of Justice Abdellatif Wahbi defended the new developments included in the draft law, including the introduction of digitization and electronic means into litigation, and its respect for the Moroccan constitution.

Wahbi explained, in a legislative general session dedicated to approving the draft law on civil procedure, today, Tuesday, that “the draft emphasized the role of the lawyer in terms of representing the parties before the judiciary, even in the case of a lawsuit in which oral procedure is applied.”

Despite the escalation announced by the Association of Bar Associations in Morocco, the government official stressed that “the project strengthened the guarantees of defense and the position of the lawyer in the civil suit,” noting that “it has become a link between the judiciary and the litigant, such that the investigation procedures of expertise, inspection and taking the oath are not carried out legally except in the presence of the lawyer or after he has been legally summoned.”

In a related context, Wahbi stressed that the project aims to “strengthen the role of the judiciary in ensuring the smooth running of justice and improving its performance by simplifying judicial procedures and measures, facilitating access to justice and ensuring access to the judiciary in accordance with the provisions of the constitution in an effective manner, and confronting malicious litigation by the parties to the lawsuit.”

The same project aims, according to the Minister of Justice, to “reduce deadlines, rationalize and rationalize appeals for considerations related to justice, expand the areas of exemption from court fees, cancel the assessment procedure, and employ the database related to the residential addresses of litigants included in the electronic identification card when it is not possible to reach the address provided.”

Regarding the integration of electronic litigation and the digitization of civil judicial procedures, the Minister of Justice stated that this will be done by “harnessing electronic communication methods, as well as creating a group of electronic platforms for lawyers, judicial commissioners, judicial experts, notaries, notaries, translators, and jurors accepted before the courts.”

In the same context, Wahbi stressed “the adoption of the account, mail and electronic signature, in addition to the use of electronic means in the process of selling at public auction and the procedures of notification and advertising,” highlighting that the civil procedure project “adopts electronic will as a strategic option to bring the judiciary closer to citizens.”

The speaker concluded that the project will work to “ensure full legal protection for the rights of litigants, achieve efficiency and improve the level of judicial services, by giving the judge a positive role in managing the course of the case and strengthening his powers to facilitate the task of adjudication, with regard to warning the parties to correct the procedure, complete missing data and submit the necessary documents to reduce rulings of inadmissibility.”

The clarifications provided by Minister of Justice Abdellatif Wahbi in the legislative plenary session dedicated to approving the draft law on civil procedure, come after the Association of Bar Associations in Morocco called on female and male lawyers to stop working as a first step, on Tuesday 23, Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 July 2024.

The Moroccan Bar Association explained in a statement that this escalation comes as a result of what it described as “serious setbacks” contained in Draft Law No. 02.23, relating to civil procedure, which “deeply undermines the primary role and legal status of the legal profession, its independence and immunity in the democratic state, and violates Morocco’s international obligations.”

Accordingly, the association called on the government to back down from the unconstitutional provisions that affect the citizen and his right to defense, and their negative effects on the economy and investment climate, stressing its determination to “take all appropriate steps in this critical circumstance to confront these setbacks with all firmness and responsibility.”