Magistrates are angry. The Magistrates' Club is organising, this Friday 17 May at 3 pm, a sit-in in front of the Court of Appeal of Kénitra.

It is protesting against the repetitive violence and harassment that judges undergo in the full exercise of their function. "The State does not assume its responsibilities and fails in its obligations to protect us," indicates a statement from the Club.

Initiated by the regional office of the Magistrates' Club of Kénitra, this sit-in denounces the State's failure in its duty to guarantee the protection of judges against the attacks and threats of which magistrates are increasingly the target. "It is a right that the State must guarantee us in accordance with Article 20 of the statute of magistrates, and in application of all international conventions and declarations, notably the United Nations principles relating to the independence of the judiciary," it is emphasised in the said statement.

To this end, the regional Magistrates' Club has recorded a significant number of cases of violence against magistrates. The latest ones took place at the court of first instance of Kénitra. "It is a question of threats and insults uttered against judges in the middle of the Court hall on 20/02/2013 by litigants.

And this directly after the announcement of the judgment in a correctional trial. We also cite outrages against a judge who is a member of the public prosecutor's office in the same court, as well as another case in a court in Souk Larbaâ," mentions a statement from the Kénitra Club. The Club also denounces the absence of judicial measures on the part of the public prosecutor's office of the court against the people involved in these incidents. "This laxity has a harmful effect on the authority of judges and dangerously threatens the independence of the judiciary," believes the Club.

Moreover, the Magistrates' Club is preparing to publish an annual report drawing up the various incidents and attempts to steer the course of justice and undermine its independence (verbal, physical violence, corruption...).

As a reminder, the Magistrates' Club is a professional association counting nearly 2,600 magistrates. At each sit-in or act of protest, the Club brandishes the slogan "Dignity and the real and effective independence of the judiciary".

Since its creation in 2011, the Club has called for respect for the dignity of judges, their integrity and the implementation of material and logistical means so that judges can accomplish their mission with dignity. Among the demands of the magistrates is the democratic application of the provisions of the Constitution concerning "the judiciary, the independence of justice", notably the organic laws of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary and the statute of magistrates which are slow to come.