Rabat – Morocco’s Justice Committee adopted the final article to reform a law requiring all court documents be submitted in Arabic on Thursday, July 7
Article 14 of the judicial organisation law now stipulates that ” papers and documents can be submitted in a foreign language, and that the court may request a translated copy afterwards if necessary.
Prior to this amendment, the law’s disposition to exclude documents in foreign languages from court submission constituted a blockage in the judicial process.
Among the bottlenecks this law created were the high costs plaintiffs were required to pay in order to have their official documents translated.
The provision therefore has hindered equal access to justice for Moroccans because of the systematic and preliminary additional costs for any person wishing to assert their rights in court or defend themselves against any form of injustice.
In addition to a hefty bill, the requirement also causes frequent judicial delays in the process, exacerbated by the scarcity of sworn translators.
Morocco has only 406 sworn translators, according to the latest list of sworn translators to the Courts of Appeal, for a total 120 courts in the country, in addition to the Court of Cassation.
All these complications result in a slow judicial process and burdens litigants.
But the issues created by the mass Arabization of the judicial system in morocco does not only affect nationals.
In fact, the amendment is expected to contribute to a large and effective simplification of the process for foreign investors. The effectiveness and efficiency of the justice system are among the first factors taken into account for Foreign Direct Investments
