The Constitution of Morocco is the supreme law of the

Kingdom of Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. The constitution defines Morocco as a

constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

and lays out the fundamental rights of Moroccan citizens, it also defines the basis and structures of

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

, the council of ministers, and the

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. The first Constitution of Morocco was adopted in 1962, 6 years after the country regained

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...

. From and following that event, the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

, Mohamed V, worked for the establishment of political and constitutional institutions. This was originally the creation of the National Advisory Council and, on November 15, 1959, the enactment of the Dahir, legislation text governing public freedoms and freedom of expression. Then, in 1960, the Constitutional Council was created and the Draft of the first Constitution was proposed on November 18, 1962, and ratified by referendum on December 7, 1962 and promulgated one week later, on December 14. A referendum on constitutional reforms was held in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

on 1 July 2011. It was called in response to the

protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

that took place earlier in the year demanding democratic reforms. A commission was to draft proposals by June 2011. A draft released on 17 June foresaw the following changes: * Requiring the

to name a

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

from the largest party in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

; * Handing a number of rights from the monarch to the PM, including

dissolution of parliament The dissolution of a legislative assembly is the mandatory simultaneous resignation of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democracy, the new assemb ...

; * Allowing parliament to grant

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

, previously a privilege of the monarch; * Making

Amazigh , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , pop2 ...

an official language alongside

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

The changes were reportedly approved by 98.49% of voters. Despite protest movements calling for a boycott of the referendum, government officials claimed turnout was 72.65%.Morocco approves King Mohammed's constitutional reforms
BBC, 2 July 2011 Following the referendum, early parliamentary elections were then held on 25 November 2011.

Results of 2011 referendum

References

External links

Full text of the 2011 constitution in EnglishPDF version

Full text of the 2011 constitution of Morocco in Berber and Arabic

Full text of the 1996 constitution in Arabic, English, and French

* {{Moroccan elections

Government of Morocco Law of Morocco Politics of Morocco

Results of 2011 referendum

See also

References

External links