Louh: “Files pertaining to crimes of terrorism and drugs’ smuggling to be assigned to professional judges

The Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals, Tayeb Louh, has stated that the separation task in some of the crimes related to terrorism and drugs’ trafficking would be assigned in the future to professional judges, and not to any ordinary judges, once the Code of Criminal Procedure is duly modified, in the framework of the projected reform of the workings of the Criminal Court.

 According to Mr Louh, the relevant draft law has now been finalized and is expected to be submitted to the council of ministers shortly before its final adoption.

“We will also introduce further amendments to the provisions of the criminal procedure to ensure respect for the principle of presumption of innocence and freedom of the people, pointing out that the State is steadily proceeding with these reforms, because there’s no other alternative”, the Justice Minister emphasized to this effect.

In this regard, Mr Louh pointed to the  comprehensive assessment of the reforms defined by the justice sector over the past years, compared to what was recommended by the decision of the National Commission for the reform of justice, without giving a specific date, saying only that it will be enforced in the coming months.

The Minister of Justice further asserted that he will “evaluate all that has been accomplished so far for that purpose and pinpoint the recorded shortcomings and work out a comprehensive assessment report related to the smooth implementation of the decisions and recommendations of the National Commission for Justice Reform, stressing that a free-wheeling debate would be opened on this outstanding file”.