POST-PARLIAMENTARY STEPS FOR FTA LEGISLATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 002467

SIPDIS

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2015
TAGS: ETRD ECON MO
SUBJECT: POST-PARLIAMENTARY STEPS FOR FTA LEGISLATION

REF: RABAT 2398 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Wayne J. Bush, for reasons 1.4 b
and d


1. (C) Two pieces of FTA-related Copyright and
Patent/Trademark legislation are currently moving through
Moroccan parliament (Ref A). According to the Ministries of
Foreign Affairs, Communications and Commerce and Industry,
both pieces of legislation should be approved by parliament
by December 15 or 16. Under the Moroccan system of
government, this is the final deliberative step in enacting
the laws related to the implementation of the FTA.


2. (C) Once a bill is passed by parliament, it goes directly
to the Secretariat General of the Government (SGG),who
prepares a "dahir," or royal decree, which is then signed by
a palace representative. The dahir is not/not necessarily
physically signed by the King. Once the dahir is signed,
legislation is published in the Official Gazette (Federal
Register equivalent).


3. (C) The steps leading to the preparation of the dahir and
publication in the Gazette are automatic and purely
pro-forma; the King officially approves all legislation at a
Council of Ministers meeting which takes place before bills
are sent to parliament for consideration. At the Council of
Ministers meeting, the King formally signs off on legislation
in the presence of all government ministers, and if there is
any objection on the part of the executive branch it is
voiced at that time. The FTA legislation was approved by the
King and his ministers on Nov. 23.


4. (C) Article 26 of the Constitution requires that laws be
fully promulgated, including publication in the Official
Gazette, within 30 days of parliamentary passage.


5. (C) There is no deliberative body which reviews this kind
of legislation after parliamentary passage, and there is no
mechanism for altering or blocking legislation of this type
between parliament and publication in the Gazette. All
activities are strictly administrative and mechanical in
nature. A Constitutional Council does have the authority to
review the constitutionality of organic laws, but its
jurisdiction does not extend to the bills in question, which
are amendments to existing laws. In addition, the SGG has
already reviewed the constitutionality of the FTA-related
bills before presentation to the King and his Council of
Ministers in November.


6. (C) The Director of Legal and Treaty Affairs at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Dec. 2 that there has never
been a piece of legislation that has been overturned or
substantively modified after parliamentary approval.
Minister of Relations with Parliament Saad El-Alami, the GOM
minister in charge of executive branch coordination with the
legislative body, told Post the same on Dec. 8, calling the
palace seal and publication in the Gazette "a formality."
Riley