Morocco’s lawyers will put down their strike on Oct 7, but not their objections to the law that has kept them away from the courts since June.
The country’s 18,000 lawyers are instead giving the government that emerges from Wednesday’s election a chance to reopen the disputed provisions, Association of Moroccan Bar Associations (ABAM) President El Hocine Ziani told Le360.
“With this temporary suspension of our movement, which began last June, we are waiting for the new parliamentarians and the government to review the controversial measures concerning the independence of the profession,” Ziani said at the association’s headquarters in Rabat.
The choice of Oct 7 was no accident.
Lawyers will return a day before the House of Representatives opens its October session, traditionally chaired by King Mohammed VI. By then, Wednesday’s vote will have produced a new House and set in motion the formation of the next government.
Ziani said the bar had taken the opening of the legislative year into account and wanted to give the incoming administration room to act.
“Out of respect for the institutions and this event, we are giving the new government an opportunity to correct some of the excesses contained in the law as adopted,” he said.
That makes the return to court more of a truce than a settlement.
“We will suspend the strike to allow the new government to be formed and to open dialogue on the provisions of this controversial law, which undermines our independence,” Ziani said.
Read also : Lawyers to return to courts Oct 7
ABAM’s executive bureau agreed on Sunday to suspend the walkout, which has run since June. The association is betting that a new parliament and government will give lawyers another shot at a legislative battle they failed to settle with the outgoing administration.
Ziani said the profession was not spoiling for a fight.
“We are not looking for conflict,” he said, before adding the caveat that has kept the dispute alive for months.
Lawyers reject both the way the legislation made its way through the system and provisions which Ziani said were inserted at the last minute by the outgoing Justice Ministry.
Those provisions, he said, cut into the independence and self-governance of the bar.
“We will continue to call for their amendment or rejection.”
Read also : Court disruption to continue as lawyers extend strike to Oct 8
There is some old baggage to clear before any fresh talks begin.
Ziani accused the outgoing authorities of failing to honor compromises already reached with the profession and going back on agreements struck with the Justice Ministry and government.
ABAM, he said, still believed in dialogue and a “participatory approach.” But there was a line it would not cross.
“Our fundamental principles and the independence of the profession remain non-negotiable.”
At the heart of the row are provisions giving the Court of Auditors oversight over certain funds linked to the profession, allowing foreign lawyers and law firms into the Moroccan market and shifting some powers over the training of lawyers to the Justice Ministry.
Lawyers say the changes eat into powers traditionally exercised by bar associations and their presidents and tilt the balance towards the Justice Ministry and public prosecution.
The ministry has defended the law as a reform of the profession’s governance and an attempt to bring its workings in line with changes in the justice system.
For now, neither side has settled that argument.
The lawyers will be back in court on Oct 7. What happens to the law will be waiting for the government that comes next.
