فاس نيوز ميديا جريدة الكترونية جهوية تعنى بشؤون و أخبار جهة فاس مكناس – متجددة على مدار الساعة
Morocco’s Constitutional Court has upheld new provisions introducing ineligibility to run for office, ruling that excluding certain categories from candidacy—namely individuals convicted at first instance in felony cases, or those caught in flagrante delicto for electoral crimes—does not violate the presumption of innocence.
The Court explained that the presumption of innocence remains guaranteed within criminal proceedings before the competent courts, while eligibility conditions fall under the legislative regulation of political rights aimed at protecting representative institutions from factors that could undermine confidence.
Under Article 6 of the organic law governing the election of members of the House of Representatives, those deemed ineligible include individuals subject to final rulings removing them from an elected mandate, as well as those convicted by a final judgment to a prison sentence—whether enforceable or suspended—taking into account the specific provisions set out in Article 66 of the same law.
The same text also covers, among other disqualifying situations, persons who are being prosecuted after being caught in flagrante delicto committing a felony or certain election-related misdemeanors defined by the legal framework, in addition to those convicted on appeal where the judgment results in the loss of electoral eligibility, as well as those convicted at first instance of a felony.
Regarding the duration of this ineligibility, the text indicates that, in the case of removal from an elected mandate, eligibility is restored only after two full electoral terms starting from the date the removal ruling becomes final. Other cases are lifted according to legally defined conditions and time limits, with exceptions depending on the nature of the acts—particularly in felony cases.
Source: Fes News Media
