Morocco’s Laayoune, France’s Metz Sign Framework Agreement to Strengthen Cooperation

As part of the decentralized cooperation between Morocco and France, this agreement was initialed by the President of the Local Council of Laayoune, Moulay Hamdi Ould Errachid and the Mayor of Metz, François Grosdidier, in the presence of elected officials of both cities.

 

Driven by a strong desire to be fully involved in the privileged cooperation between France and Morocco, united by historical and cultural ties particularly old and strong, the two cities aim through this agreement, to develop a fair and beneficial partnership to both parties.

 

Furthermore, cooperation actions are undertaken by mutual agreement and in accordance with the specificities of each party and are established, as much as possible, on a reciprocal basis.

 

These actions may take the form of regular and periodic meetings, exchanges of experience and best practices in areas of common interest between elected officials and agents of the two communities, as well as support for exchanges initiated by the various associated actors (universities, associations, economic and cultural actors, etc.).

 

Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse

HM the King Gives High Approval to Appointment of Judicial Officials in Several Jurisdictions of the Kingdom

These appointments concern 79 positions of judicial responsibility, that is to say more than 35% of the positions of judicial responsibility in the various jurisdictions of the Kingdom, says a statement of the CSPJ.

 

These are:

 

– Five (5) First Presidents of Courts of Appeal;

 

– One (1) First President of Court of Appeal of Commerce;

 

– One (1) First President of Administrative Court of Appeal;

 

– Fourteen (14) Public Prosecutors of the Courts of Appeal;

 

– One (1) Public Prosecutor at the Commercial Court of Appeal;

 

– Twenty (20) Presidents of Courts of First Instance;

 

– Four (4) Presidents of Commercial Courts;

 

– Two (2) Presidents of Administrative Courts;

 

– Thirty-one (31) Public Prosecutors at the Courts of First Instance

 

 

 

These appointments have also involved seven women judges, five of whom assume responsibility for the first time, out of the 32 magistrates who have been entrusted with positions of responsibility, accounting for 40.50% of the total number of positions of responsibility that have undergone a change.

 

The Council congratulated the new judicial officials for the trust placed in them, urging them to assume their missions with the seriousness and firmness required with more will and determination, to take the initiatives aimed at the fair application of the law, to meet the conditions necessary for a fair trial and to respect reasonable deadlines to decide cases.

 

It affirms that its General Secretariat will take charge of setting the installation date of the new judicial officials.

 

The above-mentioned new appointments, decided under the first session of the year 2022, are added to the changes that affected the judicial positions of responsibility during the year 2021 and which involved 118 judicial positions of responsibility, bringing the number of changes to judicial positions of responsibility undertaken by the Council in less than two years to 197 positions, or 83% of the total number of judicial positions of responsibility in the Kingdom’s courts.

 

In addition, 72 changes that the Council had instituted at the level of positions of responsibility since the date of its installation in 2017 to 2019, which reflects the challenge that judicial officials are called to meet for the implementation of the strategy Council at the level of courts, especially with regard to the components of moralization, supervision, efficiency in the performance, good governance, support to the litigants, communication and cooperation with the various judicial professions.

 

The appointments that received the High Royal approval in the two sessions of 2021 and the first session of 2022 demonstrate that 87 judges were assigned for the first time the judicial responsibility, representing 44.16% of all positions affected by the change, which confirms the Council’s willingness to open the way for judges among women and young people and other judges who have not previously assumed the judicial responsibility to be invested with these vital missions in the judicial field and contribute to the improvement of its performance, which was also materialized by the interest of the Council in the selection of the deputies of the judicial officials who will benefit, as stipulated in the Council’s strategy, from training on the exercise of judicial responsibility.

 

During the same period, 13 women magistrates were appointed to various positions of responsibility, including eleven (11) who were granted the responsibility of judge for the first time: one (1) first president of a Court of Appeal, three (3) presidents of courts of first instance, two (2) presidents of commercial courts, two (2) Public Prosecutors at two courts of first instance and three (3) Public Prosecutors at the commercial courts.

 

These new appointments, added to those made in recent years, bring to 20 the number of women judges who currently hold positions of responsibility in the various courts of the Kingdom, representing 9% of all positions of judicial responsibility.

 

If this rate does not reflect so far the aspirations of Moroccan women judges to occupy high responsibilities, it has nevertheless doubled compared to 2020, which denotes the Council’s willingness to give women judges the place they deserve in terms of high responsibility positions alongside their male colleagues. This is a central point in the strategy of the Supreme Council of the Judicial Power, through which the Council encourages women judges to compete for positions of responsibility, while working to find competent women judges to qualify them for positions of high responsibility.

 

Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse

Twenty-five Killed in Road Accidents in Morocco’s Urban Areas Last Week

These accidents were mainly due to non-respect of priority, excessive speeding, non-control of vehicles and pedestrian and driver errors, the source pointed out in a statement on Wednesday.

 

A total of 44,838 traffic tickets were issued by the police during the same week.

 

The sum of fines paid by road traffic violators stood at MAD 7,787,025, the statement said.

 

Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse

Combating Recruitment of Children in Armed Conflict: Morocco’s Efforts Highlighted in Rome

Speaking at a panel on extremism in Africa, the CEO of the International Research Center for the Prevention of Child Soldiers in Dakhla, Abdelkader Filali, highlighted the role of this new research structure with international vocation and the missions it has been assigned to ensure the protection of child soldiers in conflict areas.

 

“The choice of Morocco to host this major center is not accidental,” said Filali, also a professor at the University of Ottawa, noting that the Kingdom has become a provider of peace at the regional, continental and international levels, through various mechanisms and instruments, both in Africa and in other countries.

 

The Kingdom is currently ranked among the top 11 contributors of peacekeepers in the world and second in the Arab world, he said, calling for the condemnation of all forms of exploitation of children and their involvement in armed conflicts.

 

“Children enlisted represent projects of extremist elements, which could threaten security and stability in the region,” said the academician, referring to the exploitation of children in the Tindouf camps, southern Algeria, exposed by several books.

 

The Center will address in a proactive manner on the examination and monitoring of the phenomenon of recruitment of child soldiers worldwide, he said, noting that the structure has executives and academics from all continents, which will be equipped with mechanisms to monitor and follow up violations in conflict areas around the world.

 

The ultimate goal is therefore to provide accurate data in order to formulate an informed action through academic research, based on an approach of accuracy, credibility and monitoring.

 

The Center, which considers child recruitment an inhumane crime, aims to increase efforts to monitor the recruitment of child soldiers worldwide, without exception.

 

Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse

Addis Ababa: Morocco Elected Vice-Chairman of Bureau of 6th Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration

The Kingdom was elected at the meeting of the group of experts of the 6th Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration, which was attended by the Head of the High Commission on Civil Status at the Ministry of Interior, Sabouni Mohamed.

 

In a statement to MAP after the vote, Sabouni stressed that the choice of Morocco illustrates the importance of progress, work done and actions taken in the field of civil status.

 

Pursuant to the instructions of HM King Mohammed VI, aiming at the modernization of the public administration and the development of its means of action, the Ministry of Interior launched a national program to modernize the civil status in order to improve the services provided to the citizens and set up a national database of the civil status, in order to strengthen the capacity of administrations and public institutions and pave the way for the creation of a national registry of civil status for its adoption as a mechanism for planning and public policy, noted Sabouni.

 

Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse

Morocco’s Benyahia to Participate in FIA Motorsport Games in Marseille

The 22-year-old Moroccan racing river, who was the NEC Formula Renault 2.0 champion with R-ace GP in 2017, will drive an Optimum Motorsport McLaren GT3 720S in the Kingdom’s colors.

 

“We are thrilled to be returning to Motorsport Games, and this time as Team Morocco,” said Shaun Goff, Optimum Motorsport team principal, as quoted in an Optimum release. “We are looking forward to working with Michael again. […] We are excited to see what he can do this time around.”

 

Postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the second FIA Motorsport Games will be held this year at the Paul Ricard circuit, the Autocross Veynois and the Sainte Baume.

 

Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse

FIFA Rules in Favor of Morocco’s Hamdallah against Saudi Club Al Nassr

FIFA has, in accordance with the ruling, ordered the Saudi club to pay about 4 million euros to the Moroccan player.

 

The management of Al Nasr had, last November, unilaterally terminated the contract of the Moroccan striker, claiming that it had legal reasons justifying its approach.

 

Following this termination, Hamdallah had referred to FIFA to claim the amount of the release clause stipulated in his contract.

 

Commenting on the verdict of the international soccer body, legal sources close to the case explained that the Saudi club should ask the reasons for the verdict within 10 days and then have 21 days to file an appeal, noting that the case will most likely end up before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

 

Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse

Maroc Telecom Group Achieves Consolidated Revenues of almost MAD 27 Bln

International activities continued to grow and recorded an increase of 1% (+1.5% at constant exchange rates) and compensated for the slight decline in activities in Morocco (-0.5%), explains the group in a press release on its financial results.

 

Under the combined effect of a good summer season and the continued growth of Fixed-line data, activities in Morocco generated revenues of MAD 14.80 billion in the first nine months of 2022, down slightly (-0.5%) compared with 2021.

 

Fixed-line and Internet activities generated revenues of MAD 7.24 billion, up 2.6%, mainly driven by Data (+7.6%) and FTTH services (+36.8%), offsetting the decline in Voice.

 

Mobile revenues slowed down to 2.9% and reached 8.93 billion MAD at September 30, 2022, the operator said.

 

Internationally, Group revenues rose by 1% (+1.5% at constant exchange rates) to MAD 12.801 billion at end-September thanks to the continued good momentum of Mobile Data (+29.1% at constant exchange rates).

 

Excluding the drop in call terminations, subsidiaries’ revenues were up 2.5% at constant exchange rates.

 

In the third quarter of 2022, Maroc Telecom Group returned to revenue growth despite an inflationary context and regulatory pressures, Maroc Telecom underlines.

 

Group consolidated revenues improved by 0.3%, driven by a summer seasonality effect in Morocco (+2.8% in Q3 2022) and by a 1.5% increase in subsidiaries’ activities.

 

Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse

Vatican: Morocco Participates in International Meeting of Prayer for Peace of Religions

The meeting, organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio on 23-25 October, brings together leaders of European and world churches, as well as Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist and secular humanists, the embassy says in a statement.

 

Participants in the event stressed the importance of this meeting, which is held in a ”particular context marked by the war in Ukraine and the persistence of violence and conflict, particularly in Syria, the Horn of Africa and northern Mozambique.”

 

“It is urgent and necessary to make this cry for peace heard,” they stressed, noting that peace is the only possibility to ensure the survival of the planet and peoples.

 

Speaking on this occasion, the Italian President, Sergio Matarella, called for creating paths to peace with perseverance, through a collective commitment of the international community that values dialogue, negotiations and the use of diplomacy instead of weapons.

 

For his part, the founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio, Andrea Riccardi, affirmed that every religion, when it tends towards peace, is at its best, quoting the words of Pope John Paul II, during the 1986 meeting in Assisi, calling for overcoming mutual ignorance and conflicts between believers.

 

The Secretary General of the Islamic World League, Mohammad Abdelkarim Al-Issa, said that “religion is a real influential force which, if misinterpreted, could be the cause of bloody wars throughout history”, referring to the many attempts to manipulate religious discourse.

 

Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse

Educational Cooperation: Minister Benmoussa Meets in Madrid with his Spanish Counterpart

This meeting, held in the presence of the Spanish Secretary of State for Education, José Manuel Bar, the Moroccan Ambassador to Spain, Karima Benyaich, and close collaborators of both ministers, highlighted the work and progress made in educational cooperation within the bilateral Working Group on Education, Vocational Training and Higher Education.

 

It resulted in “an agreed formulation of the text of a Memorandum of Understanding for the creation of Spanish bilingual sections in the scientific field, which will allow the parties to sign it as soon as possible, once the legal formalities have been completed,” said a joint statement, issued at the end of this meeting.

 

On this occasion, the two ministers discussed ways to develop Spanish as a foreign language in Moroccan schools, mainly by strengthening the training of teachers of Spanish as a foreign language in Morocco, as well as to continue to promote the teaching of the Arabic language in Spain, within the framework of the Program for the teaching of Arabic language and Moroccan culture in Spanish schools.

 

Progress has also been made on other educational cooperation projects in the field of digitization of education, teacher training and bilingual education, among others, the statement added, noting that these projects will continue to be promoted within the Working Group on Education, Vocational Training and Higher Education for the benefit of the educational community in both countries.

 

Relations between Spain and Morocco in the field of education are a priority in the overall bilateral relations between the two countries, and constitute one of the pillars of the new phase that began with the adoption of the Joint Declaration following the visit of the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, to Morocco on April 7, concluded the statement.

 

Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse

Yemeni Justice Minister Expresses Admiration for Moroccan Experience in Judicial Independence

In a statement to the press after his talks, Monday in Rabat, with president delegate of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary (CSPJ), Mohamed Abdennabaoui, the Yemeni minister said that this meeting aims to review the latest developments in the justice system in Morocco in order to establish mechanisms for exchanging expertise and experience in various areas related to the judicial system, said a statement by the CSPJ.

 

This meeting is part of the promotion of partnership and cooperation between the Council and the judicial authorities of the Republic of Yemen and the examination of prospects for cooperation and exchange of experiences and expertise between the two countries in various areas of common interest, noted the statement.

 

On this occasion, Abdennabaoui gave a detailed presentation on the stages of development of justice in Morocco, the latest of which were the fundamental reforms brought by the Constitution of 2011 and the establishment of an independent judiciary whose independence is guaranteed by His Majesty the King.

 

The Moroccan official emphasized the most important areas of reform of the judicial system, including those related to moralization, modernization, digitization, training and upgrading of human resources, in addition to strengthening judicial efficiency.

 

This meeting between Abdennabaoui and the Yemeni Minister as well as the accompanying delegation, took place the sidelines of the 38th session of the Council of Arab Justice Ministers, held on 19 and 20 October in Ifrane.

 

Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse

Morocco, ‘key Player’ in Fight against Terrorism (NATO)

In a statement to MAP news channel M24, following his talks with representatives of national departments that monitor the program of cooperation and partnership with NATO, Colomina Piriz welcomed the “enormous responsibility” that Morocco has chosen to take in the field of combating terrorism.

 

He also emphasized the “practical cooperation” that the Atlantic Alliance has with the Moroccan military authorities and the “important political dialogue” it maintains with the Kingdom, recalling, in this sense, that Morocco is a member of the Mediterranean Dialogue.

 

Colomina Piriz, who is on a working visit to the Kingdom, said, on the other hand, “extremely satisfied” with the high-level conversations he had with the Moroccan authorities to intensify this dialogue and make it “more regular and more substantial”, stressing the need to revitalize it.

 

He also took the opportunity to express the wish to continue to deepen the “enormously satisfactory” partnership relationship that NATO has with Morocco.

 

Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse

UN Security Council Meeting Highlights Morocco’s Pioneering Role in Resolving Libyan Conflict

UN Secretary-General Special Representative for Libya Abdoulaye Bathily, together with several Security Council members, welcomed the meeting, held in Rabat, between Libyan High Council of State Chairman Khaled Meshri and Lower House Speaker Aguila Saleh.

 

They further emphasized the importance of the agreements reached in the Rabat meeting, held last Friday, concerning the implementation of provisions related to the positions of sovereignty and executive power unification.

 

In this respect, Bathily voiced his intention to meet with the main leaders of the Libyan House of Representatives and the High Council of State on the basis of the commitment announced last Friday in Rabat, in relation to preparing for the elections, as soon as possible.

 

Furthermore the meeting was commanded by several countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Mexico, Albania and Brazil, who all thanked Morocco for its efforts in resolving the Libyan crisis and saw tangible progress in the Rabat meeting.

 

The Security Council is expected to adopt a resolution this Friday on the renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

 

Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse

Head of Government Presents Key Achievements of Mandate’s First Year, 2023 Priorities

Responding to a question during the monthly session of public policy in the House of Representatives devoted to the 2023 Finance Bill, Akhannouch said that the Kingdom has taken up several key challenges.

 

These consist in starting the implementation of the Royal Vision for the generalization of social protection, achieving tangible progress in the reform of health and education and continuing the implementation of structuring projects.

 

The Executive is also committed to mitigating the impact of rising prices on the purchasing power of citizens, strengthen public investment and stimulate private investment, while ensuring the balance of public finances, added the head of government.

 

In the continuity of the measures taken in 2022, the government has planned, in 2023, “structural measures to support families and businesses, in application of the Royal Vision and the electoral commitments of the majority parties, which became government commitments after the elections of September 8, 2021”, he stressed.

 

One year after its inauguration, the government “is implementing all its commitments, with a tangible impact felt in every home and family,” insisted Akhannouch, saying that his cabinet “works to consecrate fiscal civic and investment governance in order to strengthen social cohesion” and remains “despite the difficulties posed, optimistic about building a Morocco of progress and dignity.

 

The government is working to strengthen the foundations of the social state at different levels through rapid and targeted interventions to support citizens, said the head of government, highlighting 10 new measures provided in the Finance Bill to improve the living conditions of broad categories of society.

 

Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse

National Police Adopts New Visual Identity for Vehicles

This new visual identity, adopted as part of DGSN’s efforts to renew and develop its fleet, will be generalized to all new vehicles and motorcycles, which will integrate the security service, from October 25, 2022, said the DGSN in a statement.

 

The new visual identity of vehicles and motorcycles of public security, used by security patrols and police units of rescue, is characterized by its white color with an inscription of the emblem of national security in red and green on the front and on the doors of the car, accompanied by the national flag, as well as the number 19 to receive various calls for help from citizens.

 

Another similar identity with the same characteristics, this time with blue paint, was adopted to differentiate the rest of the police vehicles, made available to mobile units of law enforcement, responsible for managing and securing the demonstrations and major events, adds the same source.

 

The DGSN seeks through the adoption of this new visual identity to differentiate security vehicles from other vehicles, in order to facilitate their mission to preserve the security of the country and citizens, to make them easily identifiable and reachable by citizens in case of calls for help or intervention on the public highway.

 

The adoption of this new visual identity is part of a continuing dynamic to which the DGSN has adhered in order to develop the public police service to meet the aspirations of citizens, concludes the statement.

 

Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse