Morocco’s top lawyer says court docs must be in Arabic

By Khaled Majdoub

RABAT

The head of the Moroccan Bar Association in Rabat has called on the nation’s lawyers to reject the use in court of all documents written in French.

In a letter sent to Moroccan lawyers on Monday, Mohamed Berko said all documents written in French must first be translated into Arabic -- Morocco’s official language -- in order to be admissible in court.

“This comes in response to a January ruling by the Court of Appeals confirming the illegality of the use of French by the Moroccan administration,” the letter read.

While the Moroccan constitution states that Arabic is Morocco’s official language (alongside the Amazigh Berber language), French is still typically used for most administrative, economic and financial transactions and documentation.

Morocco won its political independence in 1956 after 44 years of occupation by France.