The Moroccan Bar Association disapproves of the government’s “sudden” decision to make the vaccination pass compulsory. Calls for the annulment of this measure which, is contrary to the Constitution.
The government took a decision on October 18 to impose the vaccination pass on citizens. According to this document, the non-vaccinated will not be able to access public and private administrations, public and private transport, hotel and tourist establishments, restaurants, cafes, etc., nor to move between cities and provinces.
Based on the provisions of the Moroccan Constitution, the Bar Association considers that the imposition of the vaccination pass raises many legal and legal problems in that it undermines the enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms (chapter 19), freedom of movement (Chapter 24), freedoms of assembly (Chapter 29), equality between citizens and citizens’ access to public facilities (Article 154).
This decision violates the Constitution, assures the Order, especially as it prevents citizens from enjoying their rights. “The exceptional context that our country is going through due to the state of health emergency should not justify the adoption of decisions involving the withdrawal of human rights gains, because they infringe constitutional rights and go against international charters, declarations, and covenants ratified by Morocco. In addition, there is no emergency given the improvement in the epidemiological situation in the country,” he said in a statement.
Likewise, the Bar Association insists on “the absence of a legal basis to prevent citizens from benefiting from vital public services”, specifying that according to article 3 of the decree declaring a state of a health emergency, “all necessary measures required by this state do not preclude the guarantee of the continuity of vital public services and of the services provided by them to users”. Better, he warns, “legislation in areas related to fundamental rights and freedoms remains an original competence entrusted to Parliament according to Article 71 of the Constitution”, thus underlining “the danger of adopting the obligation of the past. vaccine by a government decision which was announced by an information dispatch”.
In view of these breaches, the Order requests “the annulment of this sudden decision, which contradicts the principle of non-compulsory vaccination, and the announcement made by the emergency committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) which expressed its opposition to the request for vaccination certificates against Covid-19 as a condition of travel”.
