Morocco
Practice Relating to Rule 100. Fair Trial Guarantees
Morocco’s Disciplinary Regulations (1974) provides that it is prohibited to “convict persons without a previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted tribunal affording judicial guarantees provided by law”.
Morocco’s Constitution (1996) provides:
Article 82:
The Judiciary shall be independent from the legislative and executive branches.
…
Article 85:
Magistrates in the bench shall be irremovable.
In 2004, in its fifth periodic report to the Human Rights Committee, Morocco stated: “The principle of presumption of innocence is explicitly stated in article 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.”
In 2003, in its third periodic report to the UN Committee against Torture, Morocco stated:
Moroccan justice is extremely vigilant with regard to the form and substance of the reports prepared by officers of the judicial police. Should it prove to be the case that such reports contain confessions obtained under duress, they are simply rejected and proceedings are initiated against their authors.
In 2004, in its fifth periodic report to the Human Rights Committee, Morocco stated that “any confession obtained by violent means or coercion is, as article 293 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides, null and void”.