Government officials: Legal proceedings soon possible to be started?

THOSE who questioned the impartiality of the judiciary will have to think twice. If the bill on criminal procedure is adopted, it will result in the end of the judicial exception. Until now, State officials have not been afraid of being questioned by the courts while in office.

Even if the old text contained provisions in this sense, no modality of application was foreseen. Who would dare to initiate an investigation against a minister, a head of government…? Yet, some members of the government were liable to prosecution. In any case, tomorrow, with the draft prepared by Abdellatif Ouahbi, it will be possible to prosecute government officials for wrongful acts committed. By doing so, the Minister of Justice seeks at the same time to harmonize Moroccan legislation with European and international standards. To enrich the draft text, the Minister has submitted it to the various partners of his department to collect their comments and proposals. In any case, this much awaited subject brings several novelties which are guaranteed to spark a debate within society.

■ The categories involved
Three categories are planned, the first of which includes the Head of Government, the King’s advisers, the speakers of the House of Representatives and of the House of Councilors, the ministers, the president of the Constitutional Court, the deputy president of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary, the Governors and Head Governors. The second category includes the judges of the Courts of Appeals, the first president of a lowercourt or the King’s public prosecutor in such a court, as well as the magistrates of the Court of Cassation, of the Court of Auditors,  and of the military court.
The third category involves officers of the judicial police having national powers. Other civil servants are also concerned. In these cases, if the Public Prosecutor of the King’s Office at the Court of Cassation decides to initiate proceedings, he or she must transfer the case to the Public Prosecutor of the Kingdom at the Court of Appeals other than the one where the person involved holds office.

■ The key role of the King’s prosecutor
The judicial procedure applies to the persons mentioned in article 268. Except that it is not possible to arrest these senior officials (mentioned in articles 165 and 168) or put them in pre-trial detention or subject them to a judicial review procedure, without obtaining the authorization of the King’s prosecutor at the Court of Cassation. The latter grants permission on the basis of a request sent to him by the King’s prosecutor of the Court of Appeal concerned, if he is satisfied that the measure requested is necessary for the proper conduct of the investigation. If the investigation requires the hearing or search of the persons mentioned, the King’s prosecutor at the Court of Appeals supervises the investigation personally or appoints a magistrate from the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Mohamed CHAOUI