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The constitutional reform in 2011 brought far-reaching changes to the Moroccan constitutional order: The previous Constitutional Council was replaced by a Constitutional Court, which was given new powers in the area of constitutional jurisdiction. In the future the Constitutional Court may review the constitutionality of laws in the course of ongoing proceedings and declare these laws unconstitutional if they violate the constitutionally guaranteed rights or freedoms of one of the parties to the dispute. This new constitutional review procedure, an incidental ex-post control of norms arising during any trial, resembles the Question prioritaire de constitutionnalité in French law or the konkrete Normenkontrolle under German law and thereby moves the Moroccan system closer to the continental European models of constitutional review.

Against this background the expert meeting aims to assess and compare different approaches and modalities that have been adopted by selected countries with regard to ex-post constitutional review procedures, e.g. the specific or incidental judicial review of statutes. The specific purpose of the expert meeting is to provide a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the practical implications of the new procedure, and to understand key issues and challenges the Moroccan judicial system and administration may face in this regard.

With contributions of experts from France, Spain and Germany (among which Dr. Michael Eichberger, former judge at the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany), different options to deal with these practical challenges will be discussed, in order to ensure at best that the expected impact of the newly introduced procedure can be reached in the Moroccan context.