VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRB #0120/01 0431131
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 121131Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1203
INFO RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY

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. 
 
---------------------------- 
Complete Support of the King 
---------------------------- 
 
¶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. 
 
------------------------------ 
Goals and Challenges to Reform 
------------------------------ 
 
¶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. 
 
----------------------------- 
Morocco Considering Mediation 
----------------------------- 
 
¶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. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶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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Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Moro cco 
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KAPLAN