Criminal
A 1962 penal code under long-running reform, with the death penalty in abeyance
The Penal Code of 1962 and the 2002 Criminal Procedure Code follow French structure. No execution has been carried out since 1993, and a new penal code has been in draft for years.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Courts of first instance, appeal courts with criminal chambers, and the Court of Cassation. Military jurisdiction over civilians was abolished in 2014.
- Deadline — Garde à vue is 48 hours, renewable once, and up to 96 hours renewable in terrorism cases
- Deadline — Appeal against a criminal judgment lies within 10 days
Governing law
- Penal Code, Dahir 1-59-4131962
- Code of Criminal Procedure, Law 22-012002
- Law 103-13 on violence against women2018
- Law 86-14 on terrorism offences
In practice
The 2014 reform removing civilians from military court jurisdiction was a real structural change and is often overlooked in older material. Custodial interrogation without counsel during the initial garde à vue period has been the principal fair-trial criticism, partially addressed by amendments allowing earlier access to a lawyer. Consensual extramarital sex and same-sex conduct remain criminalised under Articles 490 and 489, and abortion is prohibited except to protect the mother's health, which are the provisions the stalled penal code reform was intended to address. The death penalty remains on the books for a range of offences but Morocco has maintained a de facto moratorium since 1993, so a sentence is realistically a life sentence.