Global Judicial Integrity Network Updates Special Edition 'Views' Review | Page 25

VIEWS
Leading by Example: Corruption Reporting Mechanisms in the Moroccan
Judiciary
Judge Mina Sougrati is President of the Administrative Tribunal of Casablanca in Morocco, as well as
the President of the Union of Moroccan Women Judges and the Moroccan chapter of the International
Association of Women Judges.
As
an
International
Association
of
Women
Judges (IAWJ) member and
as a Moroccan magistrate,
I strongly believe that
corruption and unethical
practices significantly affect
development and progress,
in addition to hindering the
stability of states. Preventing judicial corruption
requires synergy to consolidate the principle of
integrity and the moralization of public life,
as well as link responsibility to identifying
and combatting corruption. In this vein, the
Moroccan judiciary has been improving both
its corruption reporting mechanisms, as well as
targeting corruption within the judiciary itself.
The Moroccan judiciary system, for instance,
has been continuously modernizing and
ameliorating its practices for addressing
corruption in general. In this respect, new
contemporary reporting mechanisms have
been created to complement classic reporting
methods (i.e. the police and prosecution open
an investigation after a complaint is filed).
These mechanisms are supported by the
promulgation of a new law for the protection of
witnesses, whistle-blowers, victims and experts
(law number 10/37) and the launch of a toll-free
Ministry of Justice hotline in June 2015. The
reporting hotline, known as the ‘Green Line’,
provides a quick and easy mechanism to control
the perpetrators in case of flagrante delicto. The
Ministry also invested in making its web portal
as optimal and efficient as possible, making it
an ideal source of information for the public.
It is also critical to make sure that any
procedural success is a milestone towards
a higher achievement, because unethical
behaviour evolves as well.
Preventing judicial corruption
requires synergy to consolidate
the principle of integrity and the
moralization of public life, as well
as link responsibility to identifying
and combatting corruption.
In 2018, a new entity was born — the Center for
Reporting Corruption and Bribery (CRCB). It is
a dedicated team of 12 agents who enable even
more direct interaction with the citizens, and
consequently an even more efficient response
time. The direct phone line has been made
public and the fax line has been established for
citizens who are more comfortable with that
medium. The CRCB receives calls that report
any financial corruption offenses (blackmailing,
embezzlement, exploiting influence, treason,
etc.). When the reception centre receives a
call, it refers it to the appointed judge, who
coordinates with the public prosecutor in the
city where the citizen is located to arrest the
suspect.
There have also been advancements in Morocco
in the reporting of gender-related corruption. In
the framework of empowering women to defend
their rights, and in order to restore trust in the
judiciary, the Union of Moroccan Women Judges
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