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Who’s Under the Robe? On Women in the Judicial System in Morocco

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North African Women after the Arab Spring

Abstract

Despite recent strides in the family law, the adoption of a very progressive constitution, inequality and institutional symbolic violence against women continue to take dismaying myriad of forms defining the challenges that women continue to face in Morocco today. In this chapter I argue that the quantitative feminization of the judicial system does not mean in any case the qualitative answer to women’s needs in equal rights. I will explore how the absence of gender from the law curriculum at higher education institutions affects both the position of woman as practitioner and as litigant.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Articles 12 & 13 of the constitution of December 7, 1962 guarantee the right to access public services and employment equally for male and female with no discrimination under the same conditions, it also guarantees equal access to education.

  2. 2.

    Some clerics in early Islam turned down the offer to hold that position like Imam Chafii and Abou Hanifa, they both claimed they were not qualified to assume such a responsibility.

  3. 3.

    Declaration of The Minister of Justice and Liberties, cited in “Magistrature: le Maroc compte 1.000 femmes juges.” Mohamed Chakir Alaoui http://www.le360.ma/fr/politique/magistrature-le-maroc-compte-1000-femmes-juges-56163 (accessed July 2015).

  4. 4.

    Counselor Soumaya Abdul Saduk, President of the Algerian Council of State keynote address in the international conference “Women Judges in the Arab World: Challenges, Hindrances, and Achievements,” Cairo, June 6–7, 2015.

  5. 5.

    Saadoun, Anass, “Tajribat Al Maraa Al Qadia bi Al Maghreb” in Al Moufakira Al Qanouniya, March 11 (2014) http://www.legalagenda.com/article.php?id=687&lang=ar (accessed July 2015).

  6. 6.

    Article 475 prescribes sentences of one to five years in prison for a person who “abducts or deceives a minor, under 18 years of age, without violence, threat or fraud, or attempts to do so.” While the second clause of the same article states that the rapist will not serve jail if he accepts to marry his victim. He “can no longer be prosecuted except by persons empowered to demand the annulment of the marriage and then only after the annulment has been proclaimed.” This clause was unanimously amended by the parliament in 2014 after a strong mobilization of women’s rights NGOs and large national and international media coverage.

  7. 7.

    The French regime inspired article 475 of the Moroccan Penal Code. Fournel, Jean-François. Traité de la séduction considérée dans l’ordre judiciaire, Demonville: Paris (1781), 304–306.

  8. 8.

    Morocco ratified CEDAW (23, 24b, obliges state parties to take action to ensure the laws protect women from family violence, abuse and rape.)

  9. 9.

    This seems to be the case in other countries as well. In her seminal study on rape victims, Representing Rape: Language and Sexual Consent (2001), Susan Ehrlich argues that the interpretation of the rape events in the legal institution is mediated by an ideological framework that constrains and shapes the meanings of these events.

  10. 10.

    I would like to express my gratitude to the judges for their kind cooperation and for kindly accepting to meet with me on multiple occasions to do the interviews.

  11. 11.

    The judges like many other high officials of the state are compelled by law to avoid public places because of the sensitivity of their positions.

  12. 12.

    “Enquête nationale sur la prévalence de la violence à l’égard des femmes au Maroc.” http://www.hcp.ma/downloads/Violence-a-l-egard-des-femmes_t13077.html (accessed June 2015).

  13. 13.

    Christina L. Boyd, Lee Epstein & Andrew D. Martin, “Untangling the Causal Effects of Sex on Judging,” American Journal of Political Science, 54 (2010), 389, 390.

  14. 14.

    Bazelon, Emily. “The Place of Women on the Court,” NY Times MM22 (July 12, 2009) (interviewing Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg).

  15. 15.

    Lewis, Neil A. “Debate on Whether Female Judges Decide Differently Arises Anew,” NY Times A16 (accessed June 4, 2009).

  16. 16.

    Wilson, Bertha. “Will Women Judges Really Make a Difference?” Osgoode Hall Law Journal 28 (1990), 507, 515.

  17. 17.

    Hale, Brenda & Hunter, Rosemary. “A Conversation with Baroness Hale,” Feminist Legal Studies 16 (2008), 237, 245.

  18. 18.

    Ibid.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. English and Gender Studies, Mohammed I University, Oujda, Morocco

    Soumia Boutkhil

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  1. Soumia Boutkhil
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. English Department, Mohammed I University, Oujda, Morocco

    Larbi Touaf

  2. Mohammed I University , Oujda, Morocco

    Soumia Boutkhil

  3. Mohammed I University , Oujda, Morocco

    Chourouq Nasri

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Boutkhil, S. (2017). Who’s Under the Robe? On Women in the Judicial System in Morocco. In: Touaf, L., Boutkhil, S., Nasri, C. (eds) North African Women after the Arab Spring. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49926-0_7

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