Enhancing Judicial Education

The ABA ROLI, in partnership with the Moroccan judicial training institute(Institut Supérieur de la Magistrature or ISM), recently completed an 18-month, MEPI-funded project aimed at enhancing judicial education on international human rights and women’s equality. The Morocco program led the development of cutting edge, interactive e-learning modules on international standards of human rights, legal principles of gender equality, and women’s rights under the Moroccan Family Code, which were later replicated in Algeria, Bahrain, and Jordan with great success. In addition to creating a sustainable set of training materials for judges, the program served as a catalyst for the enhancement and expansion of regional training centers for judges in Morocco.

ABA ROLI is now implementing a follow-on program that will enhance the look and feel of the modules and develop additional modules on new topics in both Morocco and Algeria for judges and court clerks. The new modules will focus on knowledge and skills enhancement with respect to women’s rights under Moroccan labor law, on alternative dispute resolution and leadership skills, and on procedural issues under family law. All e-learning modules will be integrated into the ISM’s training curriculum for judges.  

 

Strengthening Judicial Integrity and Independence

In summer 2008, ABA ROLI launched a new anti-corruption program in Morocco to strengthen judicial integrity and, at the same time, to increase the capacity of the judicial system to contribute to the broader fight against corruption in Moroccan society. ABA ROLI is supporting the development of an anti-corruption assessment, building the capacity of judges, prosecutors, and police to address corruption, and supporting court clerks and administrators in developing and implementing a code of professional conduct. This multi-faceted approach seeks to build the professionalism of court administrators, who often serve as the “front line” in interactions between the public and the courts, and to strengthen the ability of judges and prosecutors to investigate, try, and adjudicate corruption cases in a manner that increases transparency in the country as a whole.

 

Legal and Judicial Development

ABA ROLI has supported the Hassania, the Moroccan judges’ association, in developing a code of professional conduct for judges, produced the first ever comprehensive reports and public perception surveys on the state of the Moroccan judicial system, supported the formation of Adala, the first Moroccan NGO that works to promote judicial independence, trained judicial trainers on ways to improve the effectiveness of their judicial training programs, and contributed to the comprehensive reform of the penal code. With support from the Dutch Embassy, ABA ROLI will assist the Hassania during the next 12 months in reaching out to judges throughout Morocco and other relevant actors in the judicial system on the new ethics charter.

Training Young Lawyers

In summer 2008, ABA ROLI was awarded a regional grant by MEPI to strengthen the legal profession in the Maghreb and Gulf regions. ABA ROLI will soon launch a series of bilateral activities in Morocco to strengthen the organizational capacity of regional bar associations to provide practical skills training to young lawyers. These activities will be supplemented by regional conferences on legal education and the legal profession that will enable participants from Morocco to share comparative best practices from the Middle East and North Africa region and other parts of the world and to identify regional and country-specific action items for strengthening the profession.

 

Human Rights Clinical Legal Education

ABA ROLI supported the establishment of a human rights clinical legal education program at the Law Faculty of the University of Hassan II in Mohammedia. The clinical program was the first of its kind in the region, linking practical skills training with the substantive study of law. The program, known as Le Centre de Conseil d’Assistance Juridique pour les Droits Humains (The Legal Assistance Center for Human Rights), continues to offer substantive training sessions for students and recent law graduates on human rights, labor law, and practical legal skills. Participating students supplemented their substantive and practical legal skills training with live-client legal consultations on labor disputes to underserved Moroccan citizens, including textile workers, truck drivers, security guards, and agricultural laborers. Following the initial ABA ROLI-supported development of the program, University of Hassan II committed to continue supporting the clinic on its own.

Women and the Law

ABA ROLI has implemented a number of activities designed to strengthen the effectiveness of Moroccan women legal professionals and to support their role in promoting women’s rights. It has organized training and capacity building activities that exposed over 500 women legal professionals and civil society members to recent amendments to Morocco’s family code and to other relevant issues including women’s rights under Islamic law as well as international standards and conventions on women’s legal rights. Moreover, ABA ROLI has developed a database of over 2,000 Moroccan women legal professionals, which proved an invaluable networking and communication tool for Moroccan lawyers, judges, and civil society members within Morocco and their counterparts in the MENA region. The ABA also worked with l’Association de l’Action des Femmes Juristes (AFJ) to hold seven meetings in Morocco, introducing over 135 attendees to the concept of women’s legal professional associations, and prepared and distributed a “how-to” manual in Arabic and French for undertaking training and public outreach activities. ABA ROLI has also provided support to women’s associations in Ourazzate and Tetouane on institutional management, strategic planning, and advocacy skill building.