CILC and the Academy for Legislation conducted last week the second and regional part of the Matra South Training Program Legislation 2015. The training took place from 6 to 10 December in Rabat, Morocco. In total, 20 participants representing Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia attended this regional training.
The first day of the training was devoted to the draft Organic Law on the Supreme Council of the Judicial Power of Morocco, a bill that has been giving birth to much debate in the country in the last months and which is now pending approval of the Senate. Professor Mohammed Bouzlafa, University of Fes, Justice Mohammed Khadraoui, Court of Cassation, and Justice Loubna Ouazzani, Public Prosecution at the Court of Cassation, acquainted the participants with the provisions of the bill and discussed it with them from legislative and substantive points of view. They also analysed its implications for the independence of the judiciary in Morocco.
During the second day, Jan Janus, retired Senior Counsel of the Legislation Directorate of the Ministry of Security and Justice, went through the Dutch legislative system and the legislative process as a recapitulation of the first part of the training that was held in June in The Hague. Making use of the Integrated Quality Assessment, the participants dealt with a back-home assignment and various presentations were discussed with the experts as well as among the Arab delegations. On the third and last day, CILC’s Abdeljalil Taktak discussed the norms and values of the legislative drafter and shared with the participants a number of ethical dilemmas which they might encounter while working on drafting new legislation.
The training was concluded with a short reception in the presence of H.E. Mr. R.G. Strikker, Ambassador of the Kingdom of The Netherlands in Morocco. After briefing with the participants about the training, he emphasised the importance of the rule of law in light of today’s international circumstances, particularly in the Arab countries, and stressed the need for good cooperation and sound neighborhood. At the end of the reception, Ambassador Striker presented the training certificates to the participants.
The Matra South Training Program Legislation is financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands. CILC and the Academy for Legislation implement this program under the guardianship of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).