Penal Code

Shall be considered public roads: roads, tracks, paths or any other places devoted to public use, situated outside built-up areas and where any individual may circulate freely at any hour of the day or night, without lawful opposition by anyone. 243 - Ibid. - - - -

Whoever steals in the fields horses or beasts of burden, draught or riding animals, large or small livestock, or agricultural instruments shall be punished by imprisonment from one to five years and by a fine of 50255 to 5.005 dirhams. The same penalties shall apply to the theft of wood in felling areas, stones in quarries, sand… Show more

Whoever steals in the fields crops or other useful productions of the land already detached from the soil, even if placed in sheaves or stacks, shall be punished by imprisonment from fifteen days to two years and by a fine of 200245 to 250 dirhams. If the theft was committed either at night, or by several persons, or with the ai… Show more

Whoever, either with baskets or sacks or other equivalent objects, or with the aid of vehicles or pack animals, or in a gathering of two or more persons, or at night, steals crops or other useful productions of the land not yet detached from the soil shall be punished by imprisonment from fifteen days to two years and by a fine… Show more

Whoever, in order to commit a theft, has removed boundary markers serving to separate properties shall be punished by imprisonment from two to five years and by a fine of 200249 to 1.000 dirhams.

Whoever fraudulently abstracts electrical energy or any other energy having an economic value shall be punished by imprisonment from one month to two years and by a fine of 250 to 2.000 dirhams, or by only one of these two penalties.

Whoever makes use of a motor vehicle without the knowledge or against the will of the person entitled shall be punished by imprisonment from one month to two years, unless the act constitutes a more serious offence. Prosecution shall take place only upon complaint by the injured person; withdrawal of the complaint shall terminate the prosecution.

Shall be punished by imprisonment from one month to one year and by a fine of 200250 to 1.000 dirhams the co-heir or claimant to a succession 247 - Ibid. 248 - Ibid. 249 - Ibid. 250 - Ibid. - - who fraudulently disposes, before partition, of all or part of the hereditary estate. The same penalty shall apply to the co-owner or partner who fraudulently disposes of common property or partnership assets.

Shall be punished by imprisonment from one to five years and by a fine of 200251 to 500 dirhams the person subject to seizure who wilfully destroys or misappropriates seized objects, if those objects had been entrusted to the custody of a third party. If the seized objects had been entrusted to his custody, the penalty shall be imprisonment from six months to three years and a fine of 200252 to 500 dirhams.

Shall be punished by imprisonment from one to five years and by a fine of 200253 to 500 dirhams any debtor, borrower or third-party pledgor who misappropriates or wilfully destroys a pledged object of which he is the owner.

1255 Shall be punished by imprisonment from one month to six months and by a fine of 2.000 to 10.000 dirhams or by one of these two penalties, one 251 - Ibid. 252 - Ibid. 253 - Ibid. 254 - Ibid. 255 - The provisions of Article 526-1 were added pursuant to Article 5 of Law No. 103-13, referred to above. - - of the spouses in the… Show more

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Whoever, having fortuitously found a movable thing, appropriates it without notifying the local police authority or the owner shall be punished by imprisonment from one month to one year. The same penalty shall be imposed on anyone who fraudulently appropriates a movable thing that has come into his possession by mistake or by chance.

Any person who, having found a treasure, even on his own property, refrains from notifying the public authority within fifteen days of the discovery, is punished by a fine of 200256 to 250 dirhams. Any finder who, whether or not he has notified the public authority, appropriates the treasure, in whole or in part, without having… Show more

Any person who, having previously been convicted less than ten years ago for a crime or offence against property, is found in possession of cash, securities or objects not commensurate with his condition and cannot justify their lawful origin, is punished by imprisonment from one to six months. 256 - Ibid. 257 - Ibid. - -

Any person who, without being able to justify their lawful purpose, is found in possession of instruments used to open or force locks, is punished by imprisonment from three months to one year.

In the cases provided for in the two preceding articles, the trial court must mandatorily order the confiscation of the cash, securities, objects or instruments in accordance with the provisions of article 89.

Any person who, knowing that he is absolutely unable to pay, has drinks or food served to him which he consumes in whole or in part in establishments intended for that purpose, even if he is lodged in the said establishments, is punished by imprisonment from one to six months and a fine of 200258 to 250 dirhams. The same penalty… Show more

Any person who, knowing that he is absolutely unable to pay, has hired a public vehicle is punished by imprisonment from one to three months and a fine of 200259 to 500 dirhams.

Theft committed: 1° By husbands to the prejudice of their wives, by wives to the prejudice of their husbands; 258 - Ibid. 259 - Ibid. - - 2° By ascendants to the prejudice of their children or other descendants, is not punishable and may give rise only to civil damages.

Thefts committed by descendants to the prejudice of their ascendants, or between relatives or connections by marriage up to and including the fourth degree, may be prosecuted only on complaint of the injured person; withdrawal of the complaint puts an end to the proceedings.

Persons other than those designated in the two preceding articles, who acted as co-perpetrators or accomplices of these offences or who concealed their proceeds, cannot benefit from the provisions of the said articles.

Any person who, by force, violence or coercion, extorts the signature or delivery of a writing, an instrument, a title, or any document containing or effecting an obligation, disposition or discharge, is punished by reclusion from five to ten years.

Any person who, by means of a written or verbal threat of revelations or defamatory imputations, extorts either the delivery of funds or securities, or the signature or delivery of the writings provided for in the preceding article, is guilty of blackmail and punished by imprisonment from one to five years and a fine of 200260 to 2.000 dirhams.

In all cases, the perpetrators of the offences provided for in this section may, in addition, be subject for at least five years and at most ten years to the prohibition of one or more of the rights mentioned in article 40 and to prohibition of residence. Attempt of these offences is punished by the same penalties as the completed offence. 260 - Ibid. - - SECTION II OF FRAUD AND OF THE ISSUING OF CHEQUES WITHOUT PROVISION (Articles 540 to 546)

Any person who, with a view to obtaining or procuring for a third party an illegitimate pecuniary profit, cunningly misleads a person by fallacious affirmations, or by the concealment of true facts, or cunningly exploits the error in which a person was placed and thereby determines him to acts prejudicial to his pecuniary intere… Show more

The immunities and restrictions on the exercise of public prosecution laid down by articles 534 to 536 are applicable to the offence of fraud provided for in the first paragraph of article 540.

Is punished by the penalties for fraud provided for in the first paragraph of article 540, any person who in bad faith: 1° Disposes of inalienable property; 2° In fraud of the rights of a first contracting party, gives property "en rahn" or in usufruct, as a pledge or lease, or disposes of it in any manner whatsoever; 3° Pursues the recovery of a debt already extinguished by payment or novation. - -

Is punished by the penalties laid down in the first paragraph of article 540, without the fine being able to be less than the amount of the cheque or of the shortfall, any person who in bad faith: 1° Has either issued a cheque without prior and available provision or with provision less than the amount of the cheque, or withdraw… Show more

Is punished by the penalties laid down in the first paragraph of article 540, without the fine being able to be less than the amount of the cheque, any person who issues or accepts a cheque on condition that it is not cashed immediately but kept as a guarantee222 bis. 261 - See articles 239 et seq. of Law No. 15-95 forming the C… Show more

Any person who: 1° Counterfeits or falsifies a cheque; 2° Accepts to receive a cheque that he knew to be counterfeited or falsified, shall be punished with the penalties laid down in Articles 357 or 358, according to the distinctions provided in the said Articles.

In the cases provided for in Articles 540 and 542222 ter, the guilty parties may, in addition, be sentenced for at least five years and at most ten years to deprivation of one or more of the rights mentioned in Article 40 and to prohibition of residence. Attempted commission of these offences is punished with the same penalties as the completed offence. SECTION III OF BREACH OF TRUST AND OTHER UNLAWFUL APPROPRIATIONS (Articles 547 to 555)

Any person who in bad faith misappropriates or dissipates to the prejudice of the owners, possessors or holders, either instruments, monies or goods, or notes, receipts, writings of any nature containing or creating obligations or discharges and which had been entrusted to him on condition that he return them or make a determine… Show more

The immunities and restrictions on the exercise of public prosecution laid down by Articles 534 to 536 are applicable to the offence of breach of trust provided for in Article 547.

If breach of trust is committed: Either by an adel, sequestrator, curator, judicial administrator acting in the exercise of or in connection with their functions; Or by an administrator, employee or custodian of a pious foundation, to the prejudice of that foundation; Or by an employee or agent to the prejudice of his employer or principal, the penalty shall be imprisonment from one to five years and a fine of 200264 to 5.000 dirhams.

The prison sentence laid down in Article 547 shall be doubled and the maximum fine increased to 100.000 dirhams if the breach of trust was committed by a person publicly soliciting in order to obtain, either on his own account or as director, administrator or agent of a company or commercial or industrial enterprise, the delivery of funds or securities by way of deposit, mandate or pledge.

Any person who, having received advances for the performance of a contract, refuses without legitimate reason to perform that contract or to repay those advances, is punished with imprisonment from one to six months and a fine of 200265 to 250 dirhams.

Any person who abuses the needs, passions or inexperience of a minor of twenty-one years or of any other person lacking capacity or interdicted person, in order to make him subscribe, to his prejudice, obligations, discharges or 264 - Ibid. 265 - Ibid. - - other acts binding his estate, is punished with imprisonment from six mon… Show more

Any person who, abusing a blank signed document entrusted to him, fraudulently writes over it an obligation or discharge, or any other act likely to compromise the person or estate of the signatory, is punished with imprisonment from one to five years and a fine of 200267 to 5.000 dirhams. If the blank signed document had not be… Show more

Any person who, after having produced in an administrative or judicial dispute some document, title or memorandum, removes or misappropriates it, is punished with imprisonment from one to six months and a fine of 200268 to 500 dirhams.

In the cases provided for in Articles 547, 549, 550, 552 and 553, the guilty parties may, in addition, be sentenced for at least five years and at most ten years to deprivation of one or more of the rights mentioned in Article 40 and to prohibition of residence. 266 - Ibid. 267 - Ibid. 268 - Ibid. - - SECTION IV OF BANKRUPTCY 269 (Articles 556 to 569)

269 - Compare with the provisions of Articles 721 to 727 of Law No. 15-95 forming the Commercial Code, cited above, taking into account those contained in Article 733 of said Law.

Shall be guilty of simple bankruptcy and punished with imprisonment from three months to three years, any trader in a state of cessation of payments who has: 1° Either by his lifestyle, by games or bets, incurred expenses deemed excessive; 2° Or spent large sums in operations of pure chance or in fictitious stock exchange or com… Show more

Shall be guilty of simple bankruptcy and punished with the penalty provided for in the preceding Article, any trader in a state of cessation of payments who, in bad faith, has: 1° Either contracted on behalf of others, without receiving assets in exchange, commitments deemed too considerable having regard to his situation when h… Show more

In the event of cessation of payments of a company, the penalties for simple bankruptcy shall be incurred by the administrators, directors or liquidators of a public limited company, the managers or liquidators of a private limited company and, generally, all corporate officers who, in that capacity and in bad faith, have: 1° Ei… Show more

The penalties for simple bankruptcy shall be incurred by the administrators, directors or liquidators of a public limited company, the managers or liquidators of a private limited company and, generally, all corporate officers who, with a view to withdrawing all or part of their patrimony from the proceedings of the company in a… Show more

Any trader in a state of cessation of payments who has concealed his accounts, misappropriated or dissipated all or part of his assets, or who, whether in his writings, or by public instruments or commitments under private signatures, or in his balance sheet, has fraudulently acknowledged himself as debtor of sums which he did n… Show more

In the event of cessation of payments of a company, the penalties for fraudulent bankruptcy shall be incurred by the administrators, directors or liquidators of a public limited company, the managers or liquidators of a private limited company and, generally, all corporate officers who have fraudulently concealed the books of th… Show more

The penalties for fraudulent bankruptcy shall be incurred by: 1° Persons convicted of having, in the interest of the debtor, concealed, secreted or hidden all or part of his movable or immovable property, unless the act constitutes one of the acts of complicity provided for in article 129; 2° Persons convicted of having fraudule… Show more

The spouse, the descendants or ascendants of the debtor or his relatives or connections by marriage up to and including the fourth degree who, without having acted in complicity with him, have misappropriated, diverted or secreted movable property capable of being included in the assets of the bankruptcy, shall be liable to imprisonment of six months to three years and a fine of 200270 to 3.000 dirhams.