Casablanca: Overwhelmed Civil Court, Minister of Justice Under Scrutiny

A Moroccan deputy has called on the Minister of Justice to address the backlog of cases, delayed payment of court fees, and slow processing of execution files in Casablanca's civil courts.

The situation has been described as increasingly tense by lawyers, who have been criticizing the court's inefficiencies for several weeks.

The deputy's question, which was submitted to the Minister, highlights the long queues, unusually long processing times, and cumbersome procedures that have been plaguing the courts.

The Minister has been asked to provide information on the degradation of the courts' functioning conditions in several jurisdictions in the economic capital.

The deputy also raised concerns about the lack of human resources, complex procedures, and persistent delays in executing decisions, particularly in cases involving insurance companies.

Lawyers have reported that even basic procedures can take several hours, and the payment of a request can take up to a day, despite the recent introduction of a ticketing system to regulate the flow of people.

The digitalization of the court system has also been criticized for not providing a significant improvement, as the online platform does not cover all requests, and the processing time for online submissions is not faster than for physical submissions.

The current organization imposes a double constraint on lawyers, who must often travel to finalize procedures or follow up on their cases.

The manual processing of documents submitted online has also been identified as a major issue, leading to uncertainty over processing times and potential professional risks.

Tensions have also been reported among court staff, with recent protests over workload and lack of human resources.

The situation has been described as 'preoccupying' by the deputy, who has called on the Minister to take immediate action to address the court's inefficiencies and improve the functioning of the courts in Casablanca.