US embassy cable - 05RABAT2467

C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 002467 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PLEASE PASS USTR DOUG BELL 
USDOC FOR ITA HOLLY VINEYARD 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y - CAPTION ADDED 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2015 
TAGS: ETRD, ECON, MO 
SUBJECT: POST-PARLIAMENTARY STEPS FOR FTA LEGISLATION 
 
REF: RABAT 2398 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Wayne J. Bush, for reasons 1.4 b 
 and d 
 
1. (C) Two pieces of FTA-related Copyright and 
Patent/Trademark legislation are currently moving through 
Moroccan parliament (Ref A).  According to the Ministries of 
Foreign Affairs, Communications and Commerce and Industry, 
both pieces of legislation should be approved by parliament 
by December 15 or 16.  Under the Moroccan system of 
government, this is the final deliberative step in enacting 
the laws related to the implementation of the FTA. 
 
2. (C) Once a bill is passed by parliament, it goes directly 
to the Secretariat General of the Government (SGG), who 
prepares a "dahir," or royal decree, which is then signed by 
a palace representative.  The dahir is not/not necessarily 
physically signed by the King.  Once the dahir is signed, 
legislation is published in the Official Gazette (Federal 
Register equivalent). 
 
3. (C) The steps leading to the preparation of the dahir and 
publication in the Gazette are automatic and purely 
pro-forma; the King officially approves all legislation at a 
Council of Ministers meeting which takes place before bills 
are sent to parliament for consideration.  At the Council of 
Ministers meeting, the King formally signs off on legislation 
in the presence of all government ministers, and if there is 
any objection on the part of the executive branch it is 
voiced at that time.  The FTA legislation was approved by the 
King and his ministers on Nov. 23. 
 
4. (C) Article 26 of the Constitution requires that laws be 
fully promulgated, including publication in the Official 
Gazette, within 30 days of parliamentary passage. 
 
5. (C) There is no deliberative body which reviews this kind 
of legislation after parliamentary passage, and there is no 
mechanism for altering or blocking legislation of this type 
between parliament and publication in the Gazette.  All 
activities are strictly administrative and mechanical in 
nature.  A Constitutional Council does have the authority to 
review the constitutionality of organic laws, but its 
jurisdiction does not extend to the bills in question, which 
are amendments to existing laws.  In addition, the SGG has 
already reviewed the constitutionality of the FTA-related 
bills before presentation to the King and his Council of 
Ministers in November. 
 
6. (C) The Director of Legal and Treaty Affairs at the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Dec. 2 that there has never 
been a piece of legislation that has been overturned or 
substantively modified after parliamentary approval. 
Minister of Relations with Parliament Saad El-Alami, the GOM 
minister in charge of executive branch coordination with the 
legislative body, told Post the same on Dec. 8, calling the 
palace seal and publication in the Gazette "a formality." 
Riley