In his speech on the occasion, CSPJ’s President Delegate, Mr. M Hammed Abdenabaoui, noted that the urban planning topic has drawn the attention of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist Him, given that urbanization and construction are at the fore of our country’s public policies, and are a strategic focus of the National Human Development Initiative launched and implemented by His Majesty.

In the speech read out on his behalf by CSPJ’s Secretary-General, Mr. Mustapha Libzar, the President Delegate stressed that legal amendments to and updates on legislation on urban planning have been representing practical issues regarding their application. This calls for constantly updating the justice system and keeping abreast of jurisprudence on the rapid urbanization our country witnesses, in order to render legislation and its judicial and administrative application capable of preserving the current official urban planning. The latter serves to protect the legacy of urbanization, residential patterns, environment, and architecture, as well as maintain building security and general welfare.

For his part, the Prosecutor General of the King at the Court of Cassation, President of the Public Prosecution Office, Mr. Moulay Hassan Daki, underlined in a speech read out on his behalf by the Secretary-General of the Public Prosecution Office, Mr. Hicham Bellaoui, that the proper implementation of judicial procedures on urbanization aiming at strengthening good governance, improving surveillance and reprimand in urban planning, and adopting the principle of linking public office with accountability, is contingent upon ensuring that all urbanization stakeholders are working together so as to promptly make available legal means and human resources to address imbalances that urbanization and urban environmental management face.

With respect to managing urban planning disputes at the level of the Ministry of Interior and the measures taken in this regard, the Wali Secretary General of the Ministry, Mr. Faouzi Mohammed, stated that the number of dispute files on urbanization that the Ministry received and has been following its legal proceedings since the Law No. 66.12 on surveilling and reprimanding urbanization and construction violations entered into force, has reached 1030 files across regions and provinces. In the same respect, 359 judgments have been rendered thus far on cases related to surveilling and reprimanding urbanization and construction violations, of which 253 were in favor of the administration, i.e., more than 70%, and 106 judgments were in favor of plaintiffs, i.e., almost 30%.

In the face of these facts, the current situation urges administrations to adapt to these developments by putting in place the necessary mechanisms that ensure the compliance of their work and activities to judicial legitimacy, as well as the consolidation of the orders and procedures carried out in the field of surveillance and reprimand of urbanization and construction violations, in order to guarantee that they are issued in compliance with relevant legal and regulatory provisions and to prevent them from being appealed to courts on the one hand, and to allow, on the other hand, the discussion of judicial guidelines in this field through the judicial work of ordinary and administrative courts and the degree of harmonization between them, added Mr. Faouzi Mohamed.

In her opening speech read out on her behalf by the Secretary-General of the Ministry, Mr. Abdellatif Nahli, the Minister of National Territory Planning, Urban Planning, Housing, and City Policy, Ms. Mansouri Fatima-Zahra stated that the topic of this conference is of major significance since its organization coincides with the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of Law No. 12.90 on Urban Planning and Law No. 25.90 on Subdivisions, Housing Estates, and Real Estate Division along with the provisions governing their application. There is no doubt that this time span is deemed sufficient to assess the legal framework governing urbanization and construction in our country, and hence, review several of its provisions so as to stay informed about the urban transformations taking place across the different regions of the Kingdom.

For his part, the Judicial Officer of the Kingdom, Mr. Mohammed Kassri, considered that one of the major novelties of the law on urban planning is that it has established a distinction between the system of permits and that of surveillance and reprimand. This system paved the way for determining responsibilities, in application of the constitutional principle of linking public office with accountability and adopting a preventive approach to deter persistency of offenses. These novelties constitute a breakthrough in the urban planning and construction field and aim at strengthening good governance in the field of surveillance, reprimand of offenses, and eliminating imbalances.