Rabat 23rd Dec 2024. H.M Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, has announced clear directives for the revision of Morocco’s Family Code, underlining the need for a balanced and holistic reform that aligns with the country’s religious precepts and contemporary social needs.
In a meeting held at the Royal Palace in Casablanca on 23rd December 2024, the King instructed the government to communicate the details of the revision to the public and ensure that the reform process is carried out within a reasonable timeframe, adhering to constitutional guidelines.
The working session illustrates the particular importance and the High Concern that the Sovereign attaches to this issue which concerns all citizens, with the ambition of realizing their higher interests and establishing solid foundations for the Family, as the fundamental core of society.
This session also comes to close the process of revising the Family Code, after the Authority in charge of this issue submitted to the Highest Appreciation of His Majesty the King, within the time limit assigned to it, a report containing more than 100 amendment proposals and after His Majesty the King was kind enough to submit those of them relating to religious texts for examination by the Higher Council of Ulemas, which issued a Sharia opinion on their subject.
This session not only reaffirmed the King’s vision for a more modern and inclusive Family Code but also reflected the government’s responsibility to ensure that the reform is accessible and understandable to all Moroccans.
In Morocco, the reform of the Family Code, carried out by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, is part of the Royal will to strengthen and consolidate the family unit as the fundamental foundation of Moroccan society.
This revision is also in line with the 2004 reform, which marked a major turning point in terms of women’s rights and the promotion of their conditions, and highlighted the uniqueness of the Moroccan model at the regional and international level.
The King’s High Guidelines included several key directives to the government, which are central to the next steps in the reform process.
In this regard, HM stressed that the Family Code revision must reflect Morocco’s commitment to progress while safeguarding its religious and cultural principles.
Also, He added that the draft reform of the Family Code must be imbued with the principles of justice, equality, solidarity and symbiosis emanating from Islam and international conventions ratified by Morocco.
His Majesty the King also stressed the need for the legislative stage to be imbued with the spirit of reform and openness, and the desire to guarantee the legal, social and economic protection of the family.
His Majesty the King also stressed the need to ensure the development and formulation of proposals arising from “Ijtihad” within the framework of clear and intelligible legal rules and legislative texts, facilitating its implementation and avoiding contradictory judicial interpretations.
The King stressed the need to take into consideration all the other axes that consolidate and strengthen the reform of the Family Code, whether through the consolidation of the experience of family justice, the revision of the legislative and regulatory texts relating thereto and the development of awareness programs allowing citizens to access the law and better understand their rights and obligations.
In June, the Monarch instructed the Higher Council of Ulema to thoroughly review the proposals from the Family Code Revision Authority to ensure they align with Islamic principles and objectives. He has also directed the Council to issue a Fatwa on the proposals.
The King’s instructions are clear: the government must now prioritizepublic communication and continue to work diligently toward a reformthat aligns with the aspirations of Moroccan society while remainingfirmly grounded in the country’s legal and religious frameworks.
In this regard, His Majesty the King called on the Higher Council of Ulema to create, within it, a framework responsible for continuing constructive reflection and Ijtihad on the issue of the family, and for deepening research on the issues of Fiqh posed by the transformations that the Moroccan family is undergoing and the innovative responses that they require in order to support social changes.
His Majesty the King aims, through the creation of this institutional framework, to keep the door permanently open to Ijtihad in the service of the higher interest of the family, in light of the development of society, and so that Ijtihad is no longer occasional or dependent on a request for Fatwa addressed to the Higher Council of Ulema
In his speech delivered to HM the King during a working session, Mr. Abdellatif Ouahbi, who is also member of the Authority responsible for the revision of the Family Code, indicated that the proposals resulting from the broad consultations concern the various issues covered by the Family Code and aim to correct certain legal and judicial dysfunctions recorded, to transcend the heaviness and slowness of judicial procedures, to ensure greater intervention by the public prosecutor and to address certain social phenomena related to the issues of underage marriage, polygamy, child custody, Nafaqa, legal guardianship, the marital home, as well as the problems resulting from the breakdown of the marital relationship that threaten the best interests of children.