Moroccan Judge Caught Receiving Bribe in Rabat’s Court of Appeal

Rabat – Moroccan Judge, Rachid Machkaka, has been caught in the act of receiving a bribe while in Rabat’s Court of Appeal after a trap was laid for him on Wednesday.

Judge Rachid Mashkaka was caught red handed taking a bribe inside the Court of Appeal in Rabat on May 24. Machkaka is famous nationwide for articles he has published in the daily newspaper, Akhbar Alyaoum, as well as his many publications about ethics in the practice of law.

After someone filed a complaint against the judge in question, the Ministry of Justice and its general inspection intervened and instigated a trap that the judge walked right into. His arrest was immediately followed by a long investigation inside the court.

Rachid Machkaka is expected to benefit from a “judicial privilege procedure,” which will be carried out under the supervision of the public prosecutor. The general prosecutor of the Supreme Council will refer the case to the Criminal Chamber at the same council. The latter will then decide whether an investigation is required.

This procedure is put into effect if a similar act is attributed to a judge in the Court of Appeal, a President of a regular or specialized Elementary Court, or a public prosecutor at a regular or specialized Elementary Court.

The last chapter of the legislation also stipulates that “in the case of affirmation [of the attributable act], a court of appeal, other than the one in which person in question operates, appoints an investigative judge or an advisor at the court to conduct the investigation in the subject-matter.