In a statement, the Public Prosecutor’s Office said that this new circular forms part of efforts to strengthen the protection of rights and freedoms and to entrench the right to physical integrity.
The same source specified that “this new directive by the President of the Public Prosecutor’s Office comes within the framework of implementing the provisions of the 2011 Constitution of the Kingdom, notably Article 22, which criminalizes any infringement of physical or moral integrity, prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and also falls within the activation of the new provisions introduced by Law No. 23.03 amending and supplementing the Code of Criminal Procedure, in line with the Kingdom of Morocco’s commitments in the field of human rights.”
The circular stresses several fundamental provisions, notably the obligation to subject a person placed in police custody to a medical examination whenever signs or traces so justify it, with prior notification to the Public Prosecutor’s Office before the examination is carried out. The examination must be conducted by a doctor specialized in forensic medicine or, where applicable, by any other physician, and must be recorded in the legal registers and official reports, together with the medical report.
It also underlines the obligation for the Prosecutor General of the King or the Prosecutor of the King to order a medical examination whenever the suspect or their defense requests it, or when the existence of indications justifying such a measure is established. The circular further affirms the mandatory nature of the medical examination in the case of minors, whether at the request of their legal representative or when elements requiring it are present.
The circular clarifies that the new Code of Criminal Procedure provides for strict procedural sanctions in the event of non-compliance with these provisions. Any confession recorded in judicial police reports is deemed null and void when a medical examination has been refused despite a request by the suspect or their defense, or in the presence of apparent traces of violence.
In the same spirit, the Public Prosecutor’s Office called for the automatic and immediate opening of investigations based on the results of medical examinations, their rigorous follow-up, the conduct of regular visits to places of deprivation of liberty in order to verify the legality of arrests and their conditions, as well as positive engagement with requests for medical expert assessments submitted to the judiciary.
The circular also provides for the establishment of a special register for medical examinations and the transmission of monthly statistics to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, with immediate notification of cases requiring urgent intervention, thereby strengthening monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office concluded its circular by emphasizing the paramount importance of these instructions and calling on all judicial officials to ensure their rigorous and serious implementation, in order to guarantee the protection of rights, preserve freedoms, and strengthen citizens’ trust in the justice system.
Editorial team/le7tv (Communiqué)