Individual Corruption

According to a March 2009 article by La Vie Éco, the use of intermediaries, or 'samsara', is widespread in the Moroccan court system. In exchange for a commission these middlemen go between the litigant and lawyers, police officers or judges in order to influence the judgment, or even prevent the case from being taken to court. The use of intermediaries testifies to a lack of trust in the judiciary system, which is also observed in Transparency International's (TI's) Global Corruption Barometer 2010, according to which, less than a fifth of the surveyed households states that the judicial system is 'extremely corrupt', while in TI's Global Corruption Barometer 2009, more than one-third reports to have paid a bribe to the judiciary within the precedent year.

Corruption among working-level clerks in the courts and a lack of knowledge about its provisions among lawyers also constituted obstacles, according to the US Department of State 2009.

Business Corruption

It is a widely held view among companies that the lack of reliability of the judiciary is an impediment to doing business. About one-third of the companies surveyed in the World Bank & IFC Enterprise Surveys 2007 state that the functioning of the courts in Morocco is a major constraint to doing business. Despite this perception, a larger proportion of the companies assess the court system as fair, impartial and uncorrupted, according to the same source.

According to the US Department of State 2011, Moroccan and foreign companies complain about inefficiency and lack of transparency in the judicial system. On the other hand, the commercial and appeals courts have improved the conditions for dispute settlement.

Political Corruption

According to Freedom House 2010, the courts are not free of political interference, as they are subject to government pressure and have been exploited to clamp down on government critics. The Bertelsmann Foundation 2010 states that the governing bodies of the judicial system are dominated by the king's appointees, and that the judiciary is occasionally used to punish dissenting voices.

Global Integrity 2008 further reports that the Minister of Justice has the final say in terms of rewarding or punishing judges that have engaged in acts of corruption. Some of the punitive measures taken against judges might serve to punish the independent judges. Similarly, measures taken against other judges might be cancelled by government members.

According to Transparency International National Integrity System Morocco 2009 (in French), the judiciary is hampered by corruption, an insufficient number of judges and a lack of resources and continued education. Pressure from superiors or relatives and low salaries are some of the main factors that make judges engage in corruption, and corrupt acts are often committed with impunity.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2011:
- An average of 40 procedures, 615 days and 25.2% of the claim are required to enforce commercial contracts in Morocco.

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011:
- Business executives give the independence of the judiciary from influences of members of government, citizens, or companies a score of 3.5 on a 7-point scale (1 'heavily influenced' and 7 'entirely independent').

- Business executives give the efficiency of both the legal framework for private companies to settle disputes and of the legal framework to challenge the legality of government actions and/or regulations a score of 3.9 on a 7-point scale (1 'extremely inefficient' and 7 'highly efficient').

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2010:
- 17.3% of households surveyed consider the judiciary to be 'extremely corrupt'.

- On average, citizens give the judiciary a score of 3.5 on a 5-point scale (1 'not at all corrupt' and 5 'extremely corrupt').

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2009:
- 39% of households who had contact with the judiciary in 2008 reported to have paid a bribe.

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2007:
- 30% of companies surveyed indicate the functioning of the courts as a major constraint to doing business.

- 43.5% of companies believe that the court system is fair, impartial and uncorrupted.