Morocco’s Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi is facing vehement criticism following his proposal to broadcast court sessions online, making them accessible to citizens to monitor judicial proceedings and promote transparency.
This proposal, presented on Tuesday before the members of the Committee of Justice and Legislation in the Parliament, is currently being discussed with various parties to include it in the new Civil Procedure Law.
Khadija Rouggany, lawyer and human rights activist, condemns this proposal, claiming that it undermines the basis of a fair trial and the rights of the accused.
“Remote trials are a real threat to a fair trial, as some defendants are facing the death penalty, life imprisonment, lengthy sentences, and they are at the mercy of the judge’s discretionary power,” said Rouggany.
The activist underscored that the law relies on discretionary power and the emotional conviction of the judge, which cannot be established without physical presence, especially when the accused appears blurred.
Rouggany, on the other hand, praised the Ministry of Justice Criminal Procedure Law draft for discussing criminal policy for the first time.
She did, however, criticize the policy’s lack of clarity, noting that it should be independent of public policy and have a deeper explanation because it symbolizes the political notion of the state, government, and criminal justice.
“The expansion of the powers of the Public Prosecutor’s Office is one of the negatives of the draft law related to the Criminal Procedure Law,” she considered, stressing that “it restricts freedoms because sometimes the powers of the investigating judge are limited.”
Rouggany discussed how preliminary judicial police investigations can go beyond the purview of the court, extending investigations and generating overcrowding in prisons, where pre-trial inmates account for 40% of all prisoners.
She urged associations to closely monitor the draft Criminal Procedure Law, emphasizing that it has some positive aspects as well as serious setbacks, specifically the admissibility of torture-extracted confessions, and lack of clarity on proof without torture.
“This is a historic opportunity to demand legal action on human rights issues, including the eradication of torture confessions and the validity of judicial police reports,” said the activist.
Preliminary police and gendarmerie investigations, according to the same person, frequently contain abuses, such as reports being signed without being reviewed and their contents not adequately reflecting the interrogated individual’s claims.
Minister of Justice revealed on Tuesday that the debate on implementing filming in criminal cases is ongoing, as well as whether it complies with the law, particularly concerning individuals’ personal lives.
He emphasized that the decision to allow filming inside the courts remains under the authority of the presiding judge.
Filming trials is violating liberties of individuals. Rather, there should be more restrictions and attention paid to preliminary investigations the gendarmerie and police ( not all of them are abused) bring about in an irresponsible denigrating and shameful way. So it is high time pious & responsible people in charge take this matter seriously and accurately.
On the other hand, the so called minister of this sector should or have to beforehand implement the law on all citizens including him. There shouldn’t be bias or a double-standard way of coping with cases whatsoever.
Again, there should be a law that gives prisoners who committed civil crimes the right to live in prison without contacting murders and delinquent prisoners. Otherwise, there will bigger problems inside and more murders and the like will graduate from this bloody shit armpit.
Greetings