Morocco’s Association of Bar Associations has decided to continue its strike and boycott of judicial duties despite the entry into force of a new law regulating the legal profession.
The association said Friday that it would maintain its suspension of professional services following an extraordinary meeting of its council that lasted into the early hours of Friday.
The meeting was followed by a session of the association’s executive bureau. The association said a detailed statement outlining the meeting’s conclusions and the decisions taken would be issued later.
Sources within the legal profession told Hespress English that most participants opposed returning to work and favored continuing the lawyers’ protest campaign.
Some participants reportedly called for de-escalation and a return to work after weeks of tensions, particularly following the publication of Law No. 66.23 in the Official Gazette. However, the meeting ultimately recommended that the association’s leadership maintain the suspension of judicial duties.
The decision highlights growing divisions within Morocco’s legal community. One camp argues that continuing the boycott is the profession’s remaining means of pressure after the new law entered into force, while others believe lawyers should return to the courts and pursue their demands through professional and legal institutions.
Law No. 66.23 regulating the legal profession officially took effect Thursday, Aug. 20, after it was promulgated and published in the Official Gazette.
The law was enacted through Royal Decree No. 1.26.75, issued Aug. 18, 2026, and published in Official Gazette No. 7536 on Aug. 20.
The Constitutional Court had ruled Aug. 11 that it was unable to examine, in its current form, a referral seeking a review of the law’s constitutionality. The court ordered that its decision be communicated to the head of government and the presidents of both chambers of Parliament and published in the Official Gazette.
The lawyers’ continued boycott therefore comes after the new legislation has formally entered into force, setting the stage for further tensions between the profession’s representative bodies and the authorities over the implementation and content of the new legal framework.
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