The 2004 reform, which gave birth to the Moudawana, was a major step both legally and socially, aiming to align Moroccan family law with international standards while remaining faithful to the principles of Islam. This reform emphasized the stability and harmony of the family unit, considered the foundation of Moroccan society.
The revival of Morocco did not start today. It is a base built for centuries. The different Kings who have succeeded one another at the head of the Kingdom have always brought a special touch so that this country regains its letters of nobility in the concert of great nations. The reign of HM King Mohammed VI is part of this dynamic with bold reforms which make Morocco today a modern State where women occupy a place of choice. Precisely, speaking of the place of women within society, we can only refer to the Moudawana. This reform which has revolutionized Morocco since the accession of the Sovereign to the Throne of His glorious ancestors, twenty-five years ago. A courageous act, at the time, in a Maghreb that was changing, if not in turmoil. Let’s go back in time. The Moudawana or Personal Status Code (Moroccan, of course) was codified in 1958, under the reign of the late HM King Mohammed V. It was amended in 1993, for the first time, by the late HM King Hassan II, then revised in 2004 by Parliament before being promulgated by HM King Mohammed VI, in October of the same year. This last amendment considerably improved the conditions of women by establishing equality between the two sexes. In this dynamic, the family is now placed under the joint responsibility of the two spouses and not under that of the father. The rule of “obedience of the wife to her husband” is abandoned. Women no longer need a guardian to get married and the legal minimum age for marriage has increased from 15 to 18. These milestones were laid more than two decades ago. In his 2004 speech, the Sovereign underlined: “…Indeed, we consider this transition towards democratic modernization as a permanent project which has enabled us to record significant achievements, in particular through the organization of free and credible elections, the broadening of the scope of participation and public freedoms, the modernization of Justice and the strengthening of its independence, the promotion of the condition of women, the adoption of an avant-garde Family Code, in addition to other reforms deep institutional…”. However, the reform of the Moudawana (family code) has continued to evolve to be in line with Morocco today and tomorrow, taking into account the international environment. With this in mind, the Moudawana entered its final phase in 2024. This after six months of hearings, when the commission responsible for its revision sent, in March, a first version of the text to the head of government, Aziz Akhannouch, who handed it over to HM King Mohammed VI. According to PCNS experts, Nouzha Chekrouni and Abdessalam Saâd Jaldi, “the Family Code, the Moudawana, appeared upon its adoption by Parliament in 2004 to be the beginning of a legal and social revolution which establishes equality between men and women and improves the rights of women within the family unit”. Indeed, it made it possible, among other things, to open up new perspectives regarding the condition of Moroccan women. According to the two researchers, the Family Code constituted a social advance. However, twenty years after its promulgation, they emphasize, it is clear that the 2004 text accuses many These limits in the consecration of full rights, and appear more and more inadequate with the transformations of Moroccan society. Societal transition It is following this observation that HM King Mohammed VI called on the institutions of democratic representation to carry out a global overhaul of the Family Code, with a view to achieving the codification of a new text compatible with the societal transition which characterizes contemporary Morocco. In a report published for this purpose, they set out to examine the dysfunctions and limits of the family regime in force. In their analysis, they respectively examined the slow progress towards equality in family relationships, with a focus on interpersonal, matrimonial and property rights, the inadequacies of the legal regime for the protection of children and the problems inherent in the establishment of filiation before identifying prospects for reforms. On another level, extra-judicial dispute resolution mechanisms (mediation, conciliation and arbitration) play a fundamental role in resolving family conflicts that may arise between couples. They are characterized by the flexibility of their procedure, their non-exorbitant costs, the speed of handling disputes and the choice of applicable law. It must be said, ultimately, that the Family Code of 2004 notably enshrined equality between spouses, in a shared responsibility of the family, unlike the old text which reduced women under the principle of “obedience in return for maintenance”. The 2004 text upset the established order of patriarchy and made women full citizens. This has led to a transformation of social practices, attitudes and behaviors in the daily lives of men and women, with considerable consequences. The institutions and mechanisms of personal and family law specific to the classic Muslim tradition have been taken up in the new Code, with alterations which do not converge with the principles of equality between men and women and the rights of the child in family relations. This is demonstrated by the example of marital interpersonal rights and property rights. However, the silence of the Code on the circumstances which could lead the judge to authorize such marriages, the absence of a minimum age below which he can approve them, as well as the impossibility of bringing an appeal to annul the judge’s decision authorizing the marriage of minors, have been detrimental to the effectiveness of the principle of equality. GOOD TO KNOW Interpersonal marital rights, the formation of marriage and its dissolution were the two breeding grounds for gender discrimination in the Moroccan legal system, which the legislator had attempted to attenuate in 2004. This is how the Family Code of 2004 placed marriage under the joint responsibility of the two spouses, by proscribing the concept of the man as head of the family to whom the woman must “obedience and submission”, while by raising the age of marriage. However, almost twenty years since its adoption, inadequacies remain. These mainly concern the marriage of minors, the identification of the marriage, the legal ambiguities relating to divorce, the absence of both compensatory benefits and sharing of property acquired during the marriage without forgetting the marriage of Moroccan women with non-Muslims. With regard to the marriage of minors, article 19 of the Family Code provides that matrimonial capacity is acquired at the age of 18, for both the boy and the girl.
