With the final adoption this week by deputies of the new text on so-called alternative penalties, Morocco is taking a big step in terms of a sociological approach against deviance and delinquency.
The introduction of alternative sentences is more than just a recasting of the coercive policy towards individuals who transgress the law. Law 22-43, which has just been adopted by a majority in the first Chamber, marks a step forward of an eminently societal nature. Alternative sentences do not mean, as some may believe, leniency towards offenders or their impunity, but another form of sanctions and punishments that have also demonstrated their positive effects in the countries that have already adopted them. In the United States, more than 4 million individuals, in so-called probation mode, are serving their sentences in a state of freedom but under supervision.
In Germany, almost 60% of sentences imposed in court are fines and 20% are probation. In Morocco, figures recently revealed by the Ministry of Justice indicated that penitentiary establishments with a capacity of 64,000 individuals accommodated almost 100,000 of whom nearly 40% are in so-called preventive detention and 50% are punished with short sentences not exceeding three years. The first saving effect of so-called alternative sentences will therefore be to immediately relieve establishments by transforming custodial sentences into alternatives. In the medium and long term, and as experiences elsewhere demonstrate, these sentences can be more effective than prison stays in the fight against delinquency and recidivism. It is now up to the Moroccan judicial body to take ownership of this new approach to make it a real societal turning point.
