STATUS OF THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE IN MOROCCO: PERSPECTIVE AND PROSPECTS

Abstract

 Moroccan criminal procedure expressly enshrines the principle of the irrecusability of public prosecutors because of their special nature as accusing parties who bring the prosecution against the accused and do not decide based on the charge. For this reason, the prosecution cannot be expected to be impartial. Moreover, the prosecuting magistrate is not a party like the others; he oversees the application of the law and defends the general interest. In this article, the author attempts to refute this provision by basing himself, on the one hand, on the statutory basis of prosecuting magistrates as a component of the judiciary, characterised by constitutional independence, and on the other hand, based on the combination of the powers of a party to the proceedings with judicial functions that require them to be subject to the principle of impartiality applicable to judges.

KEYWORDS: impartiality. Independence. Recusability. public prosecutors. judicial authority.