Morocco

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• Position: Consultant for a comparative study
• Status: Consultant
• Duration of consultancy: 40 working days

Due to the urgency of this position, applications will be short listed on a regular basis and we may offer this post ASAP.

 

1. Avocats Sans Frontières

Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF) is an independent international non-governmental organization founded in Belgium in 1992, with the aim of contributing to the creation of equitable societies in which the law and its institutions serve the most vulnerable people. ASF has been working in the regions of the African Great Lakes and East Africa since its creation in 1992 on various projects to enhance access to justice for the vulnerable, projects on pre-trial detention, as well as projects for the training and coaching of lawyers, and numerous interventions in certain strategic litigations. Today ASF has expanded its scope of intervention to post conflict and fragile States in South-America, Asia, Africa and the MENA region.

To this means, ASF has been working in formal and informal partnerships with the National Bar Associations and other civil society organizations.

 

2. ASF in the region : KALIMA project

Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF) is engaged in a multi-annual project called Kalima to promote and protect actors and beneficiaries of freedom of expression and freedom of speech in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. All activities are organized in three countries: Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco within the framework of national and regional strategies. Kalima aims to provide both an emergency response in the short-term and structural lasting solutions in the long-term.

Kalima’s global objective is to contribute to expand the space for Freedom of Expression (FOE) and Freedom of Press (FOP) for traditional journalists, bloggers, and citizen journalists. The specific objective is to legally empower and protect traditional/citizen journalists and bloggers. To achieve this objective, the action focuses on reinforcing lawyers’ capacities to deal with FOE and FOP cases by providing legal advice, conducting strategic litigation cases, and supporting the collective advocacy efforts of key civil society actors.

Legally empowering traditional/citizen journalists and bloggers will ensure:1) that they know their FOE and FOP rights and obligations; and 2) that they have access to mechanisms to claims their and protect their rights.

The results to be achieved are: 1) traditional/citizen journalists and bloggers master their legal environment and international standards; 2) A regional network of lawyers is specialized in the legal protection of FOE/FOP actors; 3) Legally and professionally enabling environments consistent with international standards for FOE and FOP are promoted at both national and regional level.

The project Kalima involves a range of civil society actors, lawyers and legal practitioners, and key institutional and political stakeholders for freedom of expression (FOE) in Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia.

In parallel, ASF supports civil society actors and lawyers in establishing or consolidating the following mechanisms to ensure effective legal protection:

• Free legal assistance in courts for those victims of violations of their right to FOE or FOP;
• Legal/technical advice for proposed legal reforms;
• Strategic litigation cases;
• Use of international recourse when possible;
• Creation of a regional platform to foster exchange of experience among actors of the different contexts, support advocacy initiatives, and discuss possible regional-level advocacy.

 

3. The comparative study

Purpose of the study 

Background context

The study conducted in the framework of the Kalima project will seek to provide an understanding of the existing legislations and judicial practices restricting the scope of the FOE and FOP in Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia.

Since the Arab spring, the political and legislative environment in the Middle East and North Africa region changed in many ways. Even though the social and political evolutions are specific to each country and major changes are operating at various levels, these three countries are also facing common challenges. In this context, human rights frameworks have also undergone a major evolution. The protection and promotion of the FOE in the Egyptian, Tunisian and Moroccan legislation has known important developments, most of which are restrictive:

• Egypt’s legal framework contains broad and ambiguous restrictions to the FOE. It has also set immense barriers for the emergence of independent and free media and non governmental organizations (NGOs). These laws remain into force without significant reform since the 2011 Revolution. On the contrary, since the fall of Mubarak and then Morsi, the situation of FOE is worsening every day.
• Tunisia’s legal framework has changed since 2011. Although a new legal framework has been adopted (The new Constitution, Decree-law 115 and Decree-law 116) , protecting the space for freedom of expression and media freedom, it is widely unknown to the stakeholders in the sector and remains poorly applied by the judiciary and the Tunisian authorities.
• In Morocco, a restrictive interpretation is applied to the FOP and FOE (despite it being set out in the Constitution) as soon as certain sensitive subjects are raised (Islam, the King and monarchy, article 41 of the Press Code, personal wealth of government officials, the army[1]). The new Press Code has not yet been adopted. Its project is still in discussion and will be submitted to the vote of the parliament in January. Today, more than twenty legal provisions exist (Mostly in the Penal Code and Counterterrorism Law) allowing for custodial sentences ranging from one month to five years in prison. Journalists are convicted most commonly for slander or insulting a Head of State.

In addition to the issues linked to the application of the FOE and FOP legal framework, important issues and restriction to these public freedoms also results from the misapplication of common legislation, such as the penal code, antiterrorist laws, laws on public demonstrations or legislation on drugs. In fact, many journalists, bloggers and other FOE stakeholders are arrested or pursued based on such legislation.[2] Even if these laws are not expressively designed to regulate  the FOE and FOP, their extensive application contributes to create a highly restrictive environment for these actors.

 

Justification

In view of the above, the purpose of the study is to provide a thorough analysis of the legislative and judicial restrictions to the FOE and FOP in Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia through:

• A review of the national and international legal framework on FOE and FOP in force in the countries under study, and a review of the jurisprudence relevant to their application;
• A review of the legislations used to restrict the scope of FOE and FOP in the countries under study, and a reviews of the jurisprudence resulting from this practice;
• An analysis of the extent to which the legislative and judicial practices reduce the scope for FOE and FOP in the region and comply with international standards in the sector;
• The development of a set of recommendations to contribute to the full application of the FOE and FOP by state institutions, with a focus on the judicial and legislative bodies.

Through its publication and wide dissemination, the study will ultimately aim to initiate a shift in the legislative and judicial practices in the region. It is designed to drive the advocacy efforts implemented by ASF and its partners in the sector. It will also constitute a reference document for all actors working in the field of FOE and FOP and manly Lawyers, Judges, local and international NGOs.

The study will be particularly relevant to the work of the regional platform which will be created in the framework of the Kalima project. The platform will bring together FOE stakeholders committed to promote a wider scope for FOE and FOP in the region through the compliance with and the proper application of international standards. It will allow for the emergence of debates among a wide range of actors, such as legal practitioners, key political actors, government representatives, local media and advocacy groups, members of the civil society, etc.

The objective of this inclusive platform is to meet the need of FOE stakeholders to participate in the regulation of their activity and gradually to draw up rules of practice and monitor sensitive situations. It will support advocacy efforts at national level, and encourage the development of regional advocacy initiatives. The study will therefore constitute a basis for discussions and will directly to inform the platform members in the development and implementation of their advocacy strategies.                                                                                                               

Expected results

This study should allow ASF to

• Obtain a throughout analysis of the legislative and judicial restrictions to FOE and FOP
• Obtain recommendations to counter the misuse of penal legislations to censor FOE stakeholders and the misapplication of FOE- and FOP-related legislation
• Obtain recommendations to enlarge the space of FOE and FOP in the region and improve the judicial and legislative practices in the sector.

Methodology

In order to reach the above-mentioned objectives, the consultant shall:

• Review the relevant literature and project documents ;
• Review the relevant national, regional and international legal and judicial framework ;
• Analyse the jurisprudence selected by ASF and its partners
• Develop the comparative study based on the legislation, the cases / decisions selected and draw recommendations ;
• Present and discuss the recommendations with the advocacy platform actors before finalising the study ; and
• Discuss the study with the project partners and review their comments for completion of the study.

Deliverable

• A proposition of methodology to carry out the study ;
• Brief outline of the study
• A first draft of a comparative study, including research setting, case selection, law analysis, case analysis, impact assessment (when possible) and recommendations ;
• A final comparative study, including research setting, case selection, law analysis, case analysis, impact assessment (when possible) and recommendations ;
• A list of material used and bibliography.

Timescale

The consultant would work around 40 days from February 2015 to April 2015 to carry out the assessment.

 

4. Consultant profile

The ideal candidate will have the following profile:

• Lawyer / magistrate with advanced education in the field of human rights or legal studies or equivalent experience ;
• Experience in research, conduct surveys, qualitative content analysis ;
• Significant knowledge or experience analysing legal, judicial and quasi-judicial decisions with regards to their compliance to international standards of freedom of speech and expression ;
• Significant knowledge or experience of MENA Region judicial systems and Freedom of Expression mechanisms ;
• Strong analysing and writing skills ;
• Fluency in Arabic, English and/or French.

Desirable:

• Experience in the field of human rights and protection in the regions of implementation
• Academic background and experience in the field of human rights ;

 

To apply:

Application forms should contain a Resume and a motivation letter. They should be addressed to tun-job@asf.be before 5 January 2015.

Please indicate in the subject “Consultancy Offer – Comparative Study”

 

 

[1]http://aan.mmsh.univ-aix.fr/volumes/2000-2001/Documents/lib-opinion-Maroc.pdf

[2] For exemple : The case of Ali Anouzla in Morocco, Alla Abdel Fatah in Egypt, Aziz AMAMI in Tunisia…