AMBASSADOR EXPLORES MOROCCO'S JUDICIAL REFORM

UNCLAS RABAT 000120

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

STATE FOR INL/AAE - TOM OPSTAL AND NEA/MAG

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV SNAR KJUS KCRM CJAN EAID MO
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR EXPLORES MOROCCO'S JUDICIAL REFORM
GOALS WITH NEW JUSTICE MINISTER

REF: A. RABAT 0026

B. 09 RABAT 0719


1. (SBU) Summary: In his first meeting with the Ambassador,
newly appointed Minister of Justice Mohamed Naciri welcomed
U.S. offers of assistance with Morocco's planned judicial
reform and emphasized his intention to bring meaningful
change to a system he described as "dysfunctional."
Referring often to King Mohammed VI's August 20, 2009 speech,
which outlined six broad but crucial areas in need of
significant reform, Naciri said his first moves would be to
introduce projects that would signal to the average citizen,
as well as to magistrates and others involved in the justice
system, that "things are changing." Naciri said he intended
to emphasize transparency, ensure that the rule of law is
applied, provide legal guarantees to citizens, and encourage
people to have confidence conducting business here. Naciri
said he has put forward 2 of the 17 reform bills introduced
by the previous Minister of Justice, but he intended to have
business leaders and others provide input on the rest before
taking further legislative action. End Summary.


2. (SBU) The Ambassador, accompanied by PolCouns, INL
Director and INL Program Manager, made his initial call on
Justice Minister Mohamed Naciri on February 9. Naciri, a
prominent non-partisan attorney who over a 40-year career has
frequently represented both the GOM and the king's own
business interests (Ref A),replaced former Justice Minister
Abdelwahed Radi on January 4.

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Complete Support of the King
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3. (SBU) Responding to the ambassador's offer to assist
Morocco in its judicial reform efforts, Naciri welcomed
further bilateral cooperation, describing the U.S. and
Morocco as having a "privileged relationship." He emphasized
that the political will existed to bring meaningful reform to
the justice system, telling the Ambassador, "I have the will
to succeed and the complete support of the King."


4. (SBU) Reflecting on his new role as head of the Ministry
of Justice, Naciri said he views himself as a doctor, dealing
with a patient. "Once I listen to the patient, I can conduct
exams to see if he is really sick or not. Then, I can
determine what kind of sickness he has," he explained. He
planned to emphasize transparency ("I want this ministry to
be as clear as a house of glass"),ensuring that the rule of
law was applied, providing legal guarantees to citizens, and
"making more of an effort to fight the dysfunctions in this
system," he said.


5. (SBU) Naciri explained that under the Constitution, the
King presides over the High Judicial Council (CSM) which is
responsible for the hiring, firing and discipline of judges,
among other things. In the absence of the King, the Minister
of Justice presides over the Council, acting not as a
representative of government, but as a representative of the
King. Alluding to the prominence of Islamic law as the
underpinning of Morocco's legal system, Naciri noted that the
King is the "Commander of the Faithful" as well as the Head
of State. Therefore, when the Minister of Justice acts on
his behalf, he represents a higher authority that brings
additional gravitas to any reforms that guarantee liberty and
independence.

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Goals and Challenges to Reform
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6. (SBU) Naciri described the reform process as a long-term
undertaking, noting that an effort to create public
confidence in a judicial system that currently inspired
almost none is the "work of a generation." However, he hoped
to first implement reform projects that send a clear signal
to the people, to the magistrates, and to those involved in
justice that things were changing. "The average citizen must
feel that there is a change and we should give the maximum
guarantees to them," he emphasized. When investors saw that
citizens have confidence in their legal system, they would
gain confidence.


7. (SBU) Asked about the current status of the reform bills
introduced by former Minister of Justice Radi, Naciri
explained that all 17 of the bills had been returned to the
Ministry for review. Naciri said he had submitted 2 of the
17 to the Secretary General of the Government (which, much

like a European constitutional court, must first certify that
a bill is constitutional before a ministry can move it to
Parliament for approval). Of the remaining 15, Naciri noted
that certain groups had not been consulted and wanted
business leaders and others to weigh in before moving them
through the system. He declined to give any details of the
bills, saying only, "they are largely OK, but they still need
work."


8. (SBU) In terms of the political and bureaucratic will
surrounding the King's (and Naciri's) judicial reform goals,
Naciri told the Ambassador that although he anticipated some
resistance from judges in implementing reforms, he has felt
an "enormous sense of good will" from the magistrates
regarding change. Naciri noted that on February 8, he met
with judges reviewing the king's six priorities as outlined
in his August 20 speech on judicial reform. (Note: As
reported Ref B, these "pillars" include:

-- a more independent judiciary;
-- a new modernized penal policy that establishes a national
crime observatory and alternative sentencing mechanisms;
-- upgrading administrative mechanisms in the court system;
-- upgrading performance and professionalism of judges and
judicial staff;
-- increasing efficiency, and
-- preventing corruption. End Note.)


9. (SBU) Naciri described these pillars as the ministry's
"roadmap" for reform and noted that the challenge would be to
determine how to translate this roadmap into on-the-ground
changes. He speculated that the most difficult aspects of
reform would be those requiring a change in mentality.

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Morocco Considering Mediation
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10. (SBU) Naciri provided an overview of the GOM's recent
efforts to use mediation to bring greater efficiency to the
sclerotic court system. He stressed that the mediation
system currently in place was not an alternative to the
justice system but allowed people to present their complaints
about court processes. The GOM supported mediation as a way
to resolve legal disputes, he explained, because it is
faster, better, and cheaper than going to court. However,
for the moment, mediation would be difficult to implement
under Moroccan law, he said.

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Comment
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11. (SBU) The minister's willingness to frankly acknowledge
the problems in the justice system, as well as his expressed
intention to implement on-the-ground change, was encouraging.
As a tremendously experienced attorney -- as well as a close
confidant of King Mohammed VI and a former attorney for the
royal family's business interests -- Naciri will be fully
empowered to carry out judicial reform according to the
king's plans. What remains to be seen is how extensive the
King means these reforms to be. In any case, we were
encouraged by Naciri's clear openness to our offer to assist
in the reform process; we will continue to coordinate closely
with the new Minister and his staff to identify how best we
can add value to Morocco's badly needed judicial reform
effort. End Comment.


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