he bars are not going back. Meeting in extraordinary council in Rabat on 27 August, the bureau of the Association of Moroccan Bars decided to maintain the halt on professional services and the boycott of judicial duties, even though law 66.23 organizing the profession has been in force since 20 August. The council, originally set for 4 and 5 September, had been brought forward once the text appeared in the Official Bulletin. The strike has run without a break since 15 June, seventy-four days, and covers every service: hearings, procedures, and legal aid itself, whose appointments and payment alike remain frozen.
The paradox is that the contested text is now the law. Seized by the speaker of the House of Representatives, the Constitutional Court declared itself unable to rule on 10 August: the referral did not include the version adopted at second reading by the House of Councillors. The dahir followed on 18 August, publication on the 20th, and the minister of Justice Abdellatif Ouahbi judged the next day, on 2M, that the strike would not continue, calling it a “revocable” divorce with the profession. The bars are no longer demanding the withdrawal of a bill but the reopening of a promulgated law, on the independence of the profession, the immunity of the defense and the discipline of the bar councils. Seventeen thousand lawyers are waiting to learn which of the two readings prevails.
Photo: Den.reda, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Association of Moroccan Bars — decisions of the extraordinary council and the bureau, 27 and 28 August 2026.
Official Bulletin no. 7536 of 20 August 2026 — law no. 66.23 organizing the legal profession, dahir no. 1.26.75 of 18 August 2026.
Constitutional Court — decision no. 26/277 M.D. of 10 August 2026.
