King Mohammed VI Chairs Ministers Council

The Council examined and adopted four draft organic laws, a draft decree and several international agreements, in addition to several nominations to senior positions, said a statement, read by Abdelhak Lamrini, the Royal Palace Spokesman.

Thus, the Council examined and adopted three organic bills on regions, communes, provinces and prefectures.

These drafts stem from the Royal guidelines on the establishment of an advanced regionalization in the kingdom as a base to promote the rules of good governance, local and regional democracy, the emergence of elites capable of managing local affairs and development and economic centers that are integrated economically, socially, culturally and environmentally, in the context of national solidarity.

These drafts, developed in accordance with the provisions of Article 146 of the Constitution, provide notably for the management methods by local collectivities of their affairs, the management methods of their structures, the status of elected officials in these collectivities, the powers of regions and other local collectivities, the shared competence with the State and the powers granted to them, the powers of their councils and presidents, the financial and administrative control to which they are subjected, the financial system of these organizations and the origin of their funding sources.

In accordance with the constant interest granted by the King to promoting justice reform and consolidating guarantees of justice independence, the council approved an organic draft law on magistrates' statutes.

The draft law was formulated in accordance with the Sovereign's high instructions and in light of recommendations related to justice reform and in keeping with international principles and standards adopted to guarantee the independence of the judiciary power, said the statement.

The draft bill defines the structure of the judiciary body, entrenches the principle of justice unity, organizes the duties and rights of magistrates as well as their statutory situations, establishes performance appraisal criteria and a disciplinary system applicable to magistrates and outlines the management of the transitional period pending the enforcement of the new organic law, the same source added.

After that, economy and finance minister surveyed the legal effects of the constitutional council's ruling that the appropriation bill is constitutional except for two paragraphs.

The ministers council approved the proposed amendments that provide for eliminating the last paragraph of the 6th article and amending the last paragraph of article 52 and to refer the draft, as it had been rejected by the House of Advisors, to the House of Representatives.

The ministers council further approved a draft-decree on the military field, related to services extended by the Administration of National Defence's Central institution for the management and storage of materials".

As part of Morocco's respect of its international commitments and in order to consolidate the Kingdom's cooperation bonds with friend and sister countries, the council approved eight international conventions, supported by draft-laws.

The agreements are the multilateral Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing and seven bilateral agreements governing mainly judiciary cooperation and cooperation in public service, education and tax evasion.

In accordance with article 49 of the constitution, King Mohammed VI appointed a number of walis and governors, upon a proposal of the head of government and at the initiative of the interior minister.

The Sovereign also appointed Abdellatif Zaghnoun as general manager of the deposit and management fund (Caisse de depot et de gestion) upon proposal of the head of government and at the initiative of the Economy and Finance minister.