The head of the Judicial Affairs Pole of the Council, Ms. Taoufik Latifa, gave a presentation about a report of the Supreme Council of the Judicial Power on family justice, where she carried out an assessment of the progress of family law cases from 2017 to 2021. Her presentation also covered the status of family departments in 2021 and referenced the jurisprudence of family justice, as well as touched upon the contribution of the Supreme Council of the Judicial Power to boost the efficiency and effectiveness of family justice.

Ms. Taoufik stated that the family justice caseload in 2021 accounted for one-third of civil cases, meaning that the Kingdom’s courts registered 491,963 family cases out of a total of 100,242,805 civil cases. Ms. Taoufik added that the Supreme Council of the Judicial Power adopted several means to increase the efficiency of family justice, chief of which are focusing on continuous training and issuing circulars and publications devoted to the problems encountering family justice.

For his part, Mr. Lamine Omar, Counselor at the Chamber of Personal Status and Inheritance of the Court of Cassation, stressed the role of jurisprudence in achieving family justice, while underlining the distinctive character of family cases. The latter has many peculiarities namely, interaction with family realness, as in the case of petitions for recognition of marriage, in which the statutory interim period provided for by the legislator has come to an end, but for which Moroccan justice has taken account of family realness  by ordering, under article 400 of the Family Code, that reference be made in this respect to the Maliki school of thought.

Mr. Lamine also presented a body of jurisprudence handed down by the Court of Cassation in relation to a number of subjects, including recognition of marriage, alimony, and parentage. These decisions take account of the social reality of the family and provide jurisprudence in this respect.

For his part, the Head of the Family Department of the Court of First Instance of Sale, Mr. Asbane Said, spoke of the topicality of the social debate surrounding the Family Code, two decades after it came into force, and the collective jurisprudence that has characterized it, followed by the decisive moment represented by the evaluation of the Family Code by HM the King in the Throne Speech for the year 2022. Mr. Asbane added that the unanimity around the need to renew the Family Code confirms that the greatest possible rise is jurisprudence, which can be achieved in two ways: collective jurisprudence, by those empowered and specialized to do so, or individual jurisprudence, which is done primarily by judges themselves.

For their part, Mr. Ben Hammou Mohammed, Head of the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, and Ms. Bouichi Sara, judge at the Court of First Instance, attached to the Public Prosecutor's Office, gave two presentations on the criminal protection of women and children. Mr. Ben Hammou stated that the criminal protection of women and children is one of the most important forms of protection provided by the modern State, closely linked to the legislative policy of each State, and one of the major priorities of its criminal policies.

In her intervention on the subject of violence against women and children, Ms. Bouichi emphasized that this was one of the most dangerous practices ever observed, given its repercussions on society, since women and children are essential to the construction of a sound and blooming society. Ms. Bouichi also made reference to the measures taken by the Moroccan justice system in this respect, notably the creation of units to deal with women and children who are victims of violence within courts in 2004.

Visitors and university students who attended the Int’l Publishing and Book Fair greatly interacted with the meeting.