Morocco's Constitutional Court declines to rule on lawyers' profession law

The Moroccan Constitutional Court has issued a decision regarding Law 66.23, which regulates the legal profession, stating it is unable to rule on the law's constitutionality. This decision stems from a procedural error where the House of Representatives failed to include the final version of the law in the referral documents.

Legal experts, including professor Abdelali Bnias, emphasize that this ruling is not an endorsement of the law's constitutionality. Instead, the court stopped at the procedural stage because it could not verify the text against constitutional provisions without the correct final version. This distinction is critical as the court did not examine the actual substance of the contested provisions.

The ruling has sparked significant criticism from legal professionals and political figures. Critics have questioned whether the failure to provide the correct documentation was an oversight or intentional, and have expressed frustration over the court's delay in addressing the matter. This procedural impasse comes amid an ongoing strike by Moroccan lawyers, which has disrupted court proceedings and impacted the rights of litigants.