About the 2004 Family Code of the Kingdom of Morocco

Abstract

Contemporaries describe the adoption of the Family Code of Morocco in 2004 as Moroccan women’s “velvet revolution”. One of the most advanced family codes of the Arab-Muslim world was adopted as a result of the complex relationship between the Royal power, Islamic traditionalists, secular parties and women’s associations. It has influenced the reform of similar sections of state legislation in other countries in the region. But it has not yet found its reflection in the works of Russian researchers in social history. The article attempts to consider a brief historical retrospective of the law, the main stages of its adoption and modern problems of its implementation in practice, the feminist movement struggle, the counteraction of powerful Islamic forces and traditional society’s overwhelming public opinion, including Moroccan women’s traditionalist convictions. The reformation of the Code under the influence of international legal documents and declarations was made possible by the country’s achievement of a certain level of the socio-economic basis and socio-political relations.