Processo di Modernizzazione del Modello Giuridico Marocchino
The modernization process of the Moroccan legal model

Summary/Abstract: The process of modernizing the Moroccan legal system corresponds to the complexity which characterizes Moroccan society. Generally speaking, each step towards democratization and stability in any Muslim country poses a ’duel’ – in a truly broad meaning of the word – between sharia on the one hand and modernization and secularization on the other one. Since the Arab-Muslim systems prove that sharia is not able to yield to the process of modernization and that it is not able to provide a legal system that would be easier to accept, one in which rights and democracy would not be merely points of reference, these systems must be confronted with difficult and radical changes imposed by other legal models. Thus, instead of being of the pioneering nature, the Arab-Muslim model is bound to constantly experience the state of being subordinated to other models which prove more creative or active. Looking at the recent history of Morocco, we can find that the country’s ’going modern’ (not always in a democratic manner) has been a process which commenced along with the colonization and was not part of the plans of those wielding power at that time. The political authorities of Arab-Muslim states inherited a set of contemporary legal disciplines coming from different systems: Maghreb – from the French one, Mashreq – from the English one, yet neither the former nor the latter have made use of the heritage to a full extent, which was proved by the recent movements of social protest.

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