In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Beneficent.

Ladies and Gentlemen;

Fes continues to write the bright history of the profession of lawyer. Its jurists continue to nominate it to host the most prestigious national and international professional seminars. The Fes Bar Association is organizing this seminar today in partnership with the International Lawyer Association, as part of its tradition which consists of cooperating with major national and international professional institutions. I personally still recall the meeting organized by the Bar in April 2018, held in partnership with the International Lawyer Association. The precious shield the President of the Bar honored me with still reminds me of that meeting.

I am buoyed to represent the Supreme Council of the Judicial Power at the inauguration of this distinguished national seminar, with the presence of prominent female and male lawyers, state and judicial figures, and major community and human rights activists.

I am also pleased to commend the seminar’s topic on the social protection of the lawyer, and I extend my gratitude to the organizers for choosing this topic for this international seminar.

My gratitude goes to Mr. President and members of the Fes Bar Association, to the member of the Bar, the honorary President of the International Association, and to all lawyers in Fes, for offering me the opportunity to participate in this seminar and for initiating a debate of utmost importance not only to lawyers, but also to the justice system as a whole. The social status of the latter’s practitioners is an essential step toward justice reform, with regard to the financial and psychological stability it achieves for practitioners, which positively affects their professional performance. 

Ladies and Gentlemen;

The choice of social protection of the lawyer as the focus of this seminar comes amid the circumstance in which public authorities are working to mainstream social protection across all citizens, in implementation of the royal guidelines proclaimed in the Throne Day speech in 2020, where his Majesty said: “I believe the time has come to launch a decisive process for the expansion of social welfare coverage to all Moroccans within the next five years". This guideline has also been emphasized in his lofty speech to parliament members at the parliament opening on October 8, 2021: “The new government is responsible for setting priorities and developing projects during its mandate, in addition to raising the necessary means to finance these projects, within the overall framework for implementing the development model. The government is also expected to complete the implementation of the major projects started, especially that of achieving universal access to social protection, which I care deeply about”. 

If our country is serious about implementing the provisions of the framework law on social protection No. 09.21 issued on March 23, 2021, which preamble states that: “achieving social protection is an inevitable key to the advancement of humans as it is deemed an essential link in development”, then the social protection for lawyers and other justice practitioners is considered a door into a successful justice system, which provides security and reassurance for its workers’ livelihood, so as to be able to face social and health crises. The social protection for lawyers is tied to their dignity, which is a part of the honor of the profession. Hence, providing social protection for lawyers is protecting the profession’s dignity. Therefore, we ought to care about providing and supporting this protection and finding means to enhance its terms and conditions. Evidently, some Bar Associations have created, by virtue of their internal regulations, advanced forms of social protection for their members, drawing on the provisions of Article 91 of Law No. 28.08 on the profession of lawyer. They have also concluded health, retirement, and death insurance contracts with insurance companies, special insurance programs for lawyers, or with similar organs such as the Social Fund for Lawyers set up by some Bar Associations, whose coverage extended to the professional responsibility of lawyers, the risks they are exposed to, compensation for unemployment due to a compelling reason, and providing assistance in exceptional cases. However, Law No 99.15 on Pension Scheme for Professionals and Self-Employed issued on December 5, 2017, and Law No 98.15 on Basic Compulsory Health Insurance for Professionals, Self-Employed, and Freelancers issued on June 23, 2017, have also provided another opportunity for social insurance on health and retirement for lawyers and the rest of regulated professional bodies.

There is no doubt that this seminar shall shed the light on the contents of all these laws and other legal texts that lawyers can learn from in the field of social protection. It shall also cover a few successful experiences of some Bar Associations in Morocco or other countries whose lawyers belong to the International Lawyer Association, which partakes with the Bar Association of Fes in organizing this seminar.

I hope that the studies presented and recommendations issued by this seminar will contribute to enhancing social welfare coverage for lawyers in a way that would help them better perform their noble duty. It is apparent from the handout of the seminar, which details the context of its organization, legal background, benchmarking framework, intended goals, and topics, that it will cover thoroughly the topic and achieve the objective of the slogan adopted for this seminar: “Together We Can: for a Sustainable Social Protection”.

I wish you all the best of luck and for lawyers to have social protection that preserves their dignity and rise to the nobility of their profession.

Wassalamu alaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh