Presenting this project, which received 115 votes for, 41 against and 4 abstentions, the Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi, indicated that this legislative text aims to establish a comprehensive legal framework for alternative sentences, either by basing itself on the fundamental principles of criminal law in terms of sanctions or by establishing mechanisms and procedural standards at the level of the Code of Criminal Procedure, for the monitoring and implementation of alternative sentences.
This bill lays the foundations for an effective criminal policy aimed at overcoming the problems posed by criminal justice, in particular those related to short-term custodial sentences and their relationship with the problem of prison overcrowding, particularly by introducing the daily fine and allowing those sentenced to sentences that have acquired the force of res judicata to be able to benefit again from alternative sentences, the minister indicated.
Mr. Ouahbi added that the bill also aims to find solutions to minor crimes through a rehabilitation and integration approach outside the prison framework, to instill the spirit of citizenship, duty and commitment, particularly through the community service sentence, and to contribute to reducing cases of overcrowding in penitentiary establishments.
He stressed, in this sense, that half of the prison population is sentenced to short sentences, explaining that this “affects, on the one hand, many programs and services developed by the prison administration, and increases, on the other hand, the financial cost for the prisoners.”
The importance of the project is not limited only to the problem of overpopulation, but rather reflects the desire to be part of the orientations of two ambitious royal projects, the first aimed essentially at humanizing penal policy, which HM King Mohammed VI has repeatedly emphasized in his speeches and royal messages, and the second concerning the New Development Model, which has made human capital, particularly young people, one of the levers of change, through the expansion of opportunities and the scope of their participation, and the consecration of the spirit of citizenship, initiative and commitment to rights and duties, added Mr. Ouahbi.
For their part, representatives of parliamentary groups in the House of Representatives stressed that this text constitutes an important milestone on the path to reforming the judicial system, particularly criminal policy, adding that it will also help to resolve the problem of prison overcrowding.
They also welcomed the provisions contained in this bill which aim to replace the notions of punishment and injunction with the rehabilitation of offenders, with a view to guaranteeing their reintegration into society, calling, in this sense, to ensure harmonization with the criminal bill within the framework of a global approach to criminal policy.
2024-08-22 14:52:28