The referral concerns Bill No. 66.13, which seeks to reform the legal profession and has sparked sustained opposition from Morocco’s lawyers, who argue that several provisions undermine the independence of the bar.
The decision to refer the bill was made by House of Representatives Speaker Rachid Talbi Alami, but he is not the only official empowered to request a constitutional review.
“All organic laws, such as the law governing the right to strike, must automatically be reviewed by the Constitutional Court. Ordinary laws, like the one regulating the legal profession, are subject to constitutional review only under specific conditions,” Khalid El Idrissi, a lawyer at the Rabat Bar Association, told Le360.
According to El Idrissi, the King has the authority to refer legislation to the Constitutional Court, as do the head of government, the speakers of both houses of Parliament, one-fifth of the members of the House of Representatives, or at least 40 members of the House of Councillors.
He expressed confidence in the process, pointing to the Constitutional Court’s review of the law governing the National Press Council as a precedent. In that case, opposition lawmakers gathered the signatures of one-fifth of the lower house—79 of its 395 members—to request a constitutional review of several provisions.
Under Moroccan law, the Constitutional Court normally has 30 days to issue its ruling. That deadline may be shortened to eight days at the request of the head of government.
“In the case of Bill No. 66.13 governing the legal profession, the head of government has requested that the Constitutional Court deliver its decision within eight days,” El Idrissi said on Friday during a conference on the Constitution and the legal profession, where he spoke alongside Aziz Rouibah, president of the Rabat Bar Association.
Both speakers confirmed that lawyers would continue their indefinite nationwide strike, which has now entered its fifth week.
Lawyers maintain that the bill threatens the independence of the profession, particularly in its relationship with the Public Prosecution and the Ministry of Justice.
They also object to provisions they say weaken the powers of Morocco’s bar associations and reject plans to allow the Court of Auditors to oversee their finances.
“The Court of Auditors is mandated to audit public funds—and only public funds. It has no role in overseeing the resources of the private sector,” Rouibah said, referring to the funds managed by Morocco’s bar associations.
