Spain and Morocco observe excellent state of bilateral relations

Spain wished to demonstrate its interest in continuing to consolidate the friendship and strategic relevance of Morocco, renew the commitment to cooperation, particularly in illegal immigration, the fight against terrorism and organised crime and confirm Spain's willingness to act as a supporter of Morocco's importance for the European Union.

At his meeting with the Moroccan Minister for Justice, Mohamed Aujjar, Rafael Catalá congratulated him on his recent appointment in April, and expressed his commitment to support the efforts of Spain's neighbour in its process of institutional consolidation in the area of justice. Spain welcomes the recent reforms adopted resulting in the creation of the High Council for the Judiciary in Morocco in April and the Constitutional Court.

The Spanish International Development Cooperation Agency (Spanish acronym: AECID) collaborated on the implementation of the Court and expects to continue to work to strengthen it.

The two justice ministers valued very positively the bilateral cooperation on criminal matters that has been reflected in the bilateral Extradition and Criminal Judicial Assistance treaties signed in 2009 and the Treaty on the Transfer of Convicted Persons that came into force in 1997. In addition, Morocco forms part of the main multilateral conventions adopted by the United Nations in relation to specific matters. The two States also consider that bilateral cooperation is functioning correctly, particularly in the fight against terrorism and in the field of the international abduction of minors. They also welcomed the renewed start-up of meetings of joint civil and criminal cooperation committees and the good results obtained as a result of the commitments acquired thereby. They agree to highlight the important role of the respective liaison judges as key elements for simplifying cooperation between the two countries.

As part of this willingness of the two States to collaborate, Rafael Catalá and Mohamed Aujjar have signed a Memorandum of Understanding by which they undertake to exchange information and knowledge related to the administrative and judicial organisation of their respective ministries, the administration of the courts that make up their respective jurisdictional structures, and in the matter of modernising the administration of justice and the use of new technologies applied in the area of their jurisdictions. They will also exchange information on training programmes for professionals in the justice system, and declared they are particularly interested in the exchange of information in the fight against corruption, organised crime, cybercrime, terrorism and human trafficking.

At the meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Habib El Malki, the minister was given an invitation for the Speaker of the Spanish Lower House of Parliament, Ana Pastor, to visit Morocco soon. Habib El Malki explained to Rafael Catalá the need to make progress in preparing the next Spain-Morocco parliamentary forum.

This meeting, in which Habib El Malki explained to the Minister his "wishes for unity, stability and prosperity" for our country, also served to demonstrate the close human bonds that unite the two peoples. The immigrant Moroccan population in Spain amounts to close on one million, and in little more than a decade Morocco has become the country with the second largest foreign community in Spain.

The Minister for Justice and the Moroccan Head of Government, Saadeddine Al Othmani, also talked about collaboration between the two countries on immigration flows. They noted the good level of integration of the Moroccan community in our country and the growth in the number of Spanish people who enter Morocco every year (2.8 million, of whom around one million are tourists), registering the biggest growth in this respect of any country in the last two years. Saadeddine Al Othmani passed on to Rafael Catalá the message that "respect for the Constitution and the law is the basis of common life in society".

The meeting made clear the "magnificent state of our trading relations", making the two countries, according to the Minister, "strategic partners." Spain is Morocco's largest trading partner. In the last six years, the volume of bilateral trade has doubled to 12.6 billion euros and Spain has an extensive presence in Morocco, with 800 companies established in the country.

Rafael Catalá held a joint meeting with the President of the Appeal Court and the High Council for the Judiciary, Mustapha Faress, and with the Chief Crown Prosecutor before the Appeal Court, Mohamed Abdennabaoui. The two bodies were recently set up in Morocco and both have taken the Spanish model as a reference. In the case of the High Council for the Judiciary, our country has offered its collaboration for its implementation as a court with jurisdiction over passive extradition and guarantor of judicial independence and the training of judges and prosecutors.

In addition, Rafael Catalá invited Mohamed Abdennabaoui to visit Spain to define the new model for the Prosecutor's Office and to receive the technical support for its implementation.