Commercial Code

15-951996Loi n° 15-95 · version consolidée736 articlesSource: Bulletin Officiel (SGG)

Unofficial translation. The English interface is for information only — only the Arabic text published in the Bulletin Officiel is authentic. Read this page in العربية · Français

Article 651

The supervisory judge may order the delivery to the trustee of letters addressed to the head of the enterprise. The latter, informed, may attend their opening. The trustee must immediately return to him all letters of a personal nature. This measure shall end on the date of the judgment adopting the continuation plan or the transfer plan, or on closure of the judicial liquidation.

Article 652

The supervisory judge shall fix the remuneration relating to the duties performed by the head of the enterprise or the managers of the legal person. In the absence of remuneration, the persons referred to in the preceding paragraph may obtain from the assets, for themselves and their family, subsistence allowances fixed by the supervisory judge. Chapter III: The stay of individual proceedings

Article 653

The opening judgment shall suspend or prohibit any legal action by all creditors whose claims originated before the said judgment and seeking: - the order that the debtor pay a sum of money; - the termination of a contract for failure to pay a sum of money. It shall also stay or prohibit any enforcement measure by these creditor…

Article 654

Proceedings in progress are suspended until the pursuing creditor has declared his claim. They are then resumed by operation of law, the trustee duly summoned, but shall only seek the verification of claims and the determination of their amount. The claimant creditor shall produce to the court seised a copy of the declaration of his claim.

Article 655

Decisions that have become final and have been rendered after resumption of proceedings shall, at the request of the interested party, be entered on the statement of claims by the clerk of the court.

Article 656

Legal actions and enforcement measures other than those referred to in article 653 shall be pursued, after the trustee has been joined or after resumption of proceedings at his initiative. Chapter IV: The prohibition on paying prior debts

Article 657

The judgment opening the proceedings shall entail, by operation of law, a prohibition on paying any claim arising before the opening judgment. The supervisory judge may authorize the trustee to pay claims prior to the judgment, in order to withdraw a pledge or an item lawfully retained, where such withdrawal is necessary for the continuation of the enterprise's activity.

Article 658

Any act or any payment made in violation of the provisions of the preceding article shall be annulled at the request of any interested party, presented within a period of three years from the conclusion of the act or the payment of the claim. Where the act is subject to publicity, the period runs from such publicity. Chapter V: The suspension of the accrual of interest

Article 659

The opening judgment shall suspend the accrual of legal and contractual interest, as well as all default interest and increases.

Article 660

Interest shall resume accruing on the date of the judgment adopting the continuation plan. Chapter VI: The rights of the lessor

Article 661

The lessor shall have a privilege only for the two years' rent immediately preceding the judgment opening the proceedings. If the lease is terminated, the lessor shall also have a privilege for the rent for the year in which the termination took place. If the lease is not terminated, the lessor may not require payment of rents falling due unless the privilege granted at the conclusion of the lease has been annulled. Chapter VII: The guarantors

Article 662

Guarantors, whether jointly and severally liable or not, may not rely on: - the provisions of the continuation plan; - the suspension of the accrual of interest provided for in article 659. The acceleration of the term shall be enforceable against them.

Article 663

The creditor holding commitments subscribed, endorsed or jointly and severally guaranteed by two or more co-obligors subject to judicial reorganization or judicial liquidation proceedings may declare his claim for the nominal value of his instrument until full payment.

Article 664

No recourse for payments made shall be available to co-obligors subject to judicial reorganization or judicial liquidation proceedings against one another unless the aggregate of sums paid under each proceeding exceeds the total amount of the claim, in principal and accessories; in that case, such excess shall be allocated, according to the order of the commitments, to those co-obligors who would have the others as guarantors.

Article 665

If the creditor holding commitments jointly and severally subscribed by the enterprise in a state of judicial reorganization or judicial liquidation and by other co-obligors has received an advance on his claim before the opening judgment, he may declare his claim only after deduction of that advance and shall retain, in respect…

Article 666

Mortgages, pledges and privileges may no longer be registered after the judgment opening the procedure. Chapter IX: The Right to Reclaim

Article 667

The right to reclaim movable property may be exercised only within three months following publication of the judgment opening the judicial reorganization or liquidation procedure. For property covered by a contract still in course on the date of opening of the procedure, the time limit runs from termination or expiry of the contract.

Article 668

The owner of property is exempt from having his right of ownership recognized where the contract relating to that property has been publicized.

Article 669

Goods may be reclaimed, if they exist in kind, in whole or in part, where the sale thereof was rescinded prior to the judgment opening the procedure either by court decision or by operation of a resolutory condition fulfilled. The right to reclaim must likewise be admitted even though rescission of the sale was pronounced or rec…

Article 670

Goods dispatched to the undertaking may be reclaimed so long as delivery has not been effected in its warehouses or in those of the commission agent responsible for selling them on behalf of the undertaking. Nevertheless, reclamation is inadmissible if, before their arrival, the goods were sold without fraud, on regular invoices or transport documents.

Article 671

Goods consigned to the undertaking, either by way of deposit or to be sold on behalf of the owner, may be reclaimed provided they are found in kind.

Article 672

Property sold with a retention-of-title clause subordinating transfer of ownership to full payment of the price may also be reclaimed if it is found in kind at the time of opening of the procedure. This clause, which may appear in a writing governing a set of commercial transactions agreed between the parties, must have been agreed between the parties in a writing drawn up at the latest at the time of delivery.

Article 673

Reclamation in kind may be exercised under the same conditions over movable property incorporated into another movable property where their recovery can be carried out without material damage to the property themselves and the property into which they are incorporated, and without such recovery causing excessive depreciation of…

Article 674

In all cases, there is no ground for reclamation if the price is paid immediately. The supervising judge may, with the consent of the reclaiming creditor, grant a payment period. Payment of the price is then treated as payment of a claim regularly arising after the judgment opening the procedure.

Article 675

The syndic may consent to the claim for reclamation with the agreement of the debtor. In the absence of agreement, the claim is brought before the supervising judge, who rules on the merits of the reclamation.

Article 676

If the property whose ownership the seller reserved is resold, the price or the part of the price that has not been paid, nor been the subject of a remittance of a bill of exchange, promissory note or cheque, nor entered in a current account between the debtor and the buyer at the date of the judgment opening the procedure may be reclaimed. Chapter X: The Rights of the Spouse

Article 677

The spouse of a debtor subject to a judicial reorganization or liquidation procedure establishes the composition of his or her personal property in accordance with the rules of matrimonial regimes.

Article 678

The syndic may, by proving by any means that property belonging to the debtor's spouse or minor children was acquired with values provided by the debtor, request that the acquisitions thus made be added to the assets. Chapter Xl: The Suspect Period

Article 679

The suspect period extends from the date of cessation of payments until the judgment opening the procedure, increased by an earlier period for certain contracts. Section I: Determination of the Date of Cessation

Article 680

The judgment opening the procedure fixes the date of cessation of payments. In all cases, that date may not be more than 18 months prior to the date of opening of the procedure. Failing determination of that date by the judgment, cessation of payments is deemed to have occurred on the date of the judgment. The date of cessation…

Article 681

Shall be void, where they were made by the debtor after the date of cessation of payments, all acts for no consideration. The court may furthermore annul acts for no consideration made in the six months preceding the date of cessation of payments.

Article 682

The court may annul any act for consideration, any payment, any creation of guarantees or security, where they were made by the debtor after the date of cessation of payments.

Article 683

However, and by derogation from the preceding article, guarantees or security of any nature whatsoever, created prior to or concurrently with the birth of the guaranteed claim, may not be annulled.

Article 684

The provisions of Article 682 do not affect the validity of payment of a bill of exchange, promissory note, cheque or claim assigned pursuant to the provisions of Articles 529 et seq. However, the syndic may bring an action for restitution against the drawer of the bill of exchange or, in the case of drawing for account, against…

Article 685

The action for nullity is brought by the trustee. It aims to restore the assets of the enterprise. Chapter XII: Determination of the liabilities of the enterprise Section I: Declarations of claims

Article 686

All creditors whose claim originated before the judgment opening the proceedings, with the exception of employees, shall send the declaration of their claims to the trustee. Creditors holding a security that has been published or a published leasing contract shall be notified personally and, where applicable, at the elected domi…

Article 687

The declaration of claim must be sent within a period of two months from the publication of the judgment opening the proceedings in the Bulletin Officiel. This period is extended by two months for creditors domiciled outside the Kingdom of Morocco. For the counterparty referred to in article 573, the declaration period expires f…

Article 688

The declaration shall state the amount of the claim owed on the date of the judgment opening the proceedings, specifying, in the case of judicial reorganization, the part due at a future date. It shall specify the nature of the privilege or security with which the claim may be accompanied. Where the claims are in foreign currenc…

Article 689

Except where the proceedings have been opened on a declaration of cessation of payments, the debtor shall deliver to the trustee the certified list of its creditors and of the amount of its debts no later than eight days after the judgment opening the proceedings. This list shall include the name or corporate name, registered of…

Article 690

Failing declaration within the periods fixed in article 687, creditors are not admitted to distributions and dividends unless the supervisory judge grants them relief from their time-bar if they establish that their failure is not attributable to them. In that case, they may participate only in distributions made after their app…

Article 691

In the event of a transfer or judicial liquidation, no verification of unsecured claims shall be carried out if it appears that the proceeds from realization of the assets will be entirely absorbed by legal costs and privileged claims, unless, in the case of a legal person, it is appropriate to charge all or part of the liabilities to the de jure or de facto corporate officers, whether or not remunerated, in accordance with article 704 below.

Article 692

In the event of a total transfer or judicial liquidation, the trustee shall deliver to the supervisory judge, within one month of taking office, a statement mentioning the transfer price or the valuation of the assets and of the privileged and unsecured liabilities. On the basis of this statement, and after obtaining the observa…

Article 693

Verification of claims shall be carried out by the trustee in the presence of the head of the enterprise or the latter duly summoned, with the assistance of the controllers, subject to the provisions of the third paragraph of article 640. If a claim is disputed, the trustee shall notify the creditor thereof by registered letter…

Article 694

Within a maximum period of six months from the judgment opening the proceedings, the trustee shall establish, after seeking the observations of the head of the enterprise and as and when declarations of claims are received, the list of declared claims with its proposals for admission, rejection or referral to the court. He shall transmit this list to the supervisory judge. Sub-section III: Decisions of the supervisory judge

Article 695

On the basis of the trustee's proposals, the supervisory judge shall decide on the admission or rejection of the claims or record either that proceedings are pending or that the dispute does not fall within his jurisdiction.

Article 696

When the supervisory judge rules on jurisdiction or on a claim disputed by the enterprise or the creditor, the clerk shall summon the latter by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. Decisions of lack of jurisdiction or ruling on a dispute concerning a claim shall be notified to the parties by the clerk within eight…

Article 697

Where the matter falls within the jurisdiction of the court which opened the proceedings, the appeal against the decisions of the supervising judge shall be brought before the court of appeal. It is available to the creditor, the debtor and the trustee. The time-limit for appeal is fifteen days, running from notification in the…

Article 698

The decisions of admission or rejection of claims or of lack of jurisdiction pronounced by the supervising judge shall be entered in a statement which is filed with the registry of the court. The same applies to decisions rendered by the courts seised under the conditions provided for in the first and third paragraphs of Article…

Article 699

Any person may inspect the statement of claims at the registry. Sub-section V: The claims lodged by third parties

Article 700

Interested persons may: - lodge a third-party opposition against the decisions rendered by the courts referred to in the first and third paragraphs of Article 697 and transcribed in the statement of claims; - lodge an opposition against the final decisions pronounced by the supervising judge. The third-party opposition and the o…