Women's equality, the main focus of the reform of the Family Code of Morocco
In order to update the Family Code, the Moroccan government team, at the behest of King Mohammed VI, initiated the procedures for the renewal of the code. The Royal Letter to the Head of Government details the royal decision announced by HM the King in the Throne Speech for the year 2022 and reflects the importance the Sovereign continues to attach to the promotion of women and family issues.
The meeting was attended by the Vice-President of the High Judicial Council, Mohamed Abdennabaoui, the Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi, and the President of the Public Prosecutor's Office, El Hassan Daki, who represents the King before the Court of Cassation.
With this decision, the royalty and the government seek to initiate a dynamic of positive change and establish a new concept of equality and family balance, thus opening the door to important social advances in order to address the judicial problems that exist in some situations with the current code within a maximum period of six months.
The update will focus on four basic pillars for Moroccan society: justice, equality, solidarity and coherence.
The Moroccan sovereign stressed that the provisions of the Family Code "must also be adapted to the evolution of Moroccan society and the needs of sustainable development", adding that "the new version will thus harmonise with the evolution of our national legislation". The Alaouite King affirmed that, given the importance of this issue, which has both legal and judicial implications, it was considered prudent to entrust the joint management of the amendment process to the Ministry of Justice, the High Council of the Judiciary, and the Presidency of the Public Prosecutor's Office.
"The updating of the code we are requesting must be carried out in accordance with the guiding principles and key directions that governed its development and which we defined in Our Address to Parliament on 10 October 2003, subsequently confirmed in the Speech from the Throne to our beloved people on 30 July 2022," HM the King states.
The King affirmed: "We are concerned that the desired modernisation is carried out in full respect of the spirit of the Sharia and the peculiarities of Moroccan society", and continued: "We are also concerned that, conceived and designed with the help of the institutions and stakeholders, it operates according to an approach marked with the hallmarks of moderation, open Ijtihad, consultation and dialogue".
The King of Morocco stated that possible proposals for modification and amendment must take into account the results of more in-depth consultations and hearings, in particular with the associative fabric concerned with human rights, women's and children's rights, as well as with judges, researchers and academics and other family law practitioners.
After the meeting, Akhannouch gave a press conference in which he expressed his appreciation for receiving the Royal Charter, which initiates the process of revising the Family Code and which is supervised by His Majesty the King.
The High Council of the Judiciary, the Presidency of the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Justice will be the three responsible for leading the reform operation, according to the Royal Charter, which also sets out the working methodology, which will be based on listening and a participatory approach.
The head of government stressed that it was decided to hold a meeting early next week to implement the provisions of the Royal Charter. This meeting will be followed by listening sessions for all interested groups within Moroccan society. He made it clear that this reform represents a turning point for Morocco and expressed the hope that all parties involved will contribute positively to it, as requested by the monarch Mohamed VI.
