Family Code Implementation: Are Judges Resisting

UNCLAS RABAT 000013

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG, NEA/PI, pass to USAID; Tunis for MEPI

E.O. 12568: N/A
TAGS: KMPI PHUM PREL PGOV MO
SUBJECT: Family Code Implementation: Are Judges Resisting
the Changes?



1. The Casablanca Regional Bureau of the Hassanian Judges'
Association organized a December 15 meeting between female
parliamentarians and judges entitled "Judges and the
Application of the Moudawana (family code)." The meeting
was also attended by members of civil society and human
rights activists. MOJ Chief of Staff Moulay Hachem Al
Alaoui served as the panel's mediator. (Curiously absent
was Judge Zhor al Horr, the first women president of the
Casablanca family court, which handles by far the greatest
number of marital conflict cases in Morocco).



2. President of the Hassanian Judges Association Mustapha
Fares made opening remarks stressing that "this meeting is a
new practice adopted by the Casablanca Regional Bureau of
the Hassanian Judges Association to communicate with all
components of Moroccan society, to listen to them, and most
importantly to understand citizens' expectations in order to
establish a just and equitable justice to be respected by
all citizens."


3. More generally, the conference aimed at assessing the
family code after almost two years of implementation and
provided an opportunity to discuss remaining problems and
challenges. Civil society actors viewed the main issues in
the legislation as stemming from the many prerogatives left
to the judge's discretion. There was reportedly open debate
on whether Moroccan judges respect the Moudawana and whether
there is abuse of power. Fares stressed that the importance
of properly implementing the code is just as important as
the changes brought by it.


4. French-language daily L'Economiste reported on December
16 that, "Unfortunately the panel ended with neither
conclusions nor answers on the implementation of the code.
There was instead too much summarizing of the code itself."
L'Economiste commented that the participants at least agreed
on one point: the outdated mentality which still prevails
within courts hampers effective implementation of the family
code. A moderate judge mentioned that "what takes place in
courts reflects the current thinking which prevails within
society." The Parliamentarians and judges concluded that
what is needed is strong will and especially time for
conservative mentalities to change.

Comment
--------------


5. While largely inconclusive and devoid of concrete
recommendations, the conference, convened at the initiative
of judges, was useful in bringing together judges, lawyers,
MP's and women's rights activists to debate implementation
of the family code. The meeting also points to one of the
main implementation challenges of the code, which is that
some -- and perhaps most -- judges are either resistant to
implementing the changes in the family code or else do not
understand the changes well enough despite the training
manuals prepared by the MOJ (the other challenge being
dissemination of the changes to all sectors of society). In
our view, MEPI and DRL-funded programs such as ABA that
focus on the training of family court judges are well-
positioned to make an impact in this critical area.


6. Comment continued: The new legislation can also only be
accepted and properly practiced if those to whom it applies
properly understand it. While the GOM has launched various,
disparate communication campaigns to describe the
legislation, people with no previous legal knowledge have
difficulties understanding it as do people who don't speak
modern standard Arabic, a language that is spoken on
television but not understood by the illiterate, who make up
almost half of the Moroccan population. As a result,
women's movements are now asking the government to provide
didactic material that can be understood by all segments of
the Moroccan society. Several MEPI-funded activities
including World Learning, Global Rights, and the Academy for
Educational Development work on communicating the new law in
Moroccan dialect and other local Berber dialects. A small
grant given to local NGO Joussour/Aquarium Theater
successfully reached thousands of illiterate Moroccans
through plays performed in Moroccan dialect in primarily
rural areas. The funding we have contributed to these
programs has been invaluable in spreading the message, but
there is clearly much more work to be done in the slow
process of changing the mentality of bygone generations.
The results of the judges' meeting will be a valuable
teaching aid for future USG-funded activities to bolster
women's rights and inclusiveness in Morocco. End comment.