Moroccan lawyers suspend four-month strike; dispute over executive power and the legal profession remains unresolved

According to Africanews, after more than four months of protests over a controversial bill on the legal profession, some 19,000 Moroccan lawyers have announced a temporary return to work, suspending the strike that had brought the country's judicial system to a broad standstill.

The strike launched by the Moroccan Bar Association lasted more than 120 days, during which case backlogs in courts at all levels swelled dramatically and judicial proceedings were seriously delayed. Africanews noted that the standoff imposed a disproportionate burden on ordinary litigants seeking judicial remedies — with no alternative channels of recourse available, the prolonged suspension of proceedings meant their immediate interests were left in continued limbo.

Citing statements from the lawyers, Africanews reported that the core of the dispute lies in allegations that the new legislation concentrates excessive power in the hands of the executive branch. The legal community argues that such arrangements erode the independence of the legal profession as an institutional pillar for checking public power, and has therefore called for a reconsideration of the bill and the resumption of formal dialogue with the government.

"Suspension" rather than "end" — this is how Africanews characterized the return to work. The lawyers said the decision was intended to leave room for the formation of a new government so that consultations could be restarted under a fresh political framework. The shelved text of the bill, as well as the boundaries of power between the executive branch and the autonomy of the legal profession, remain unresolved.

Africanews reported that Morocco is currently in a government transition phase, with the composition of the new cabinet and the timetable for legislative amendments both still unclear. In the public dispute over the bill, the lawyers' allegations have so far drawn no corresponding response from the government, leaving substantial uncertainty about how the controversy will unfold.