Founded in 2009, Droit & Justice aims to facilitate access to justice for all social classes, denounce cases of judicial dysfunction, and suggest solutions to legislative shortcomings. Our Objectives:
· Providing legal assistance to indigent people and others who have had their human rights and fundamental freedoms violated
· Promoting Rule of Law through public debates, round tables, seminars,
and training
· Encouraging a culture of free legal aid in Morocco though community events and free legal clinics
· Developing recommendations and proposals for reform that are utilized in our lobbying efforts
· Preparing reports on different areas of law—civil, criminal, commercial, public, private, and human rights—evaluating the impact of current legislation
· Establishing contact and relationships with institutions, organizations, and local and international NGOs in order to exchange experience and expertise about how to better protect human rights in Morocco
Our Projects:
1) Combatting Underage Marriage Through Legal Awareness (CUMLA):
Faced with a phenomenal resurgence in the problem of underage marriage—an increase from 7.75% of all Moroccan marriages in 2004 to 11.47% in 2013, despite reforms to the Family Code (Moudawana) meant to prevent this—Droit & Justice launched the CUMLA project in 2014. This project educates girls and boys ages 9-17, their parents, and their communities about the physical, psychological, and economic consequences of traditional underage marriage practices. To date we have succeeded in educating more than 500 women, including 250 minor girls. This project has also mobilized local networks of over 30 volunteer organizations and individuals.
2) Promotion of Gender Equality in the Moroccan Judicial System:
The ambitious project, co-funded by the European Union, launched in May 2016, aims to improve gender equality under Moroccan law to ensure better respect for women’s rights. There are 3 primary components to the program: proposing recommendations to amend discriminatory legislation, capacity-building with law enforcement officials to ensure a more uniform and less discriminatory application of existing laws, and increasing women’s understanding of their rights. To achieve its objectives, the project relies upon activities such as studying legislation, anti-discrimination training for judges and police officers, and legal assistance for women including the establishment of a legal advice hotline and roadshow workshops to raise rural women’s awareness of their rights.
3) Legal Aid for Refugees in Morocco (LARM):
This project has been providing free legal assistance to asylum seekers and free training in refugee law to lawyers, law students, and NGOs assisting migrants since 2013. In this time, we have trained 136 support professionals, provided free legal assistance to 54 asylum seekers, offered 228 legal consultations to migrants, and educated 588 migrants on their rights to seek asylum and the legal procedures for so doing.
4) Justice Roadshows:
This project was established in 2012 to provide free legal advice and information for disadvantaged groups throughout rural Morocco. A team of staff and volunteer lawyers travel to remote communities to provide pro bono legal assistance to the people living there. Since its creation, our Justice Roadshow project has assisted over 1400 individuals.
5) Court Monitoring and Publication of Judgements (CMPJ):
This project promotes an independent, efficient, integrated and high-quality judicial system. In order to do so, it has to primary components. The first of these is monitoring court and judicial performance though data collected via surveys and observation. To date we have had 19 volunteer attorneys act as observers, and they have carried out more than 65 evaluations across 7 cities. The second component of the project encourages judges to produce quality judgements consistent with both the legislation and protection of human rights. To accomplish this, our team of volunteer legal experts study all decisions, publishing commentaries on questionable judgements and promoting exemplary judgements so to establish them as the norm.
6) Legal Aid Center:
In 2014 Droit & Justice launched its Legal Aid Center in Casablanca, Morocco in partnership with ASMAPREF. This center is dedicated to providing legal counsel for underserved individuals, and aims to promote the rights of all Moroccans. To date, the center has assisted over 300 people.
7) Seminars and Round Tables:
Droit & Justice promotes the Rule of Law and judicial reform in Morocco by creating platforms for exchange and debate on legislation and policy. We organize seminars and round table discussions on themes such as civil liberties (freedom of speech, freedom of the press), penal code reform, Rule of Law, and the democratization of Morocco since the adoption of the 2011 Constitution. Panelists and speakers at these events include judges, lawyers, legal scholars, and law students.
