Introduction: A centuries-old land injustice has finally been shaken
Picture this. In Sidi Bennour, in the Doukkala region, a widow learns that collective land cultivated by her family for decades is about to be included in a development operation. Compensation will be paid. Lists of beneficiaries are circulating. Her brothers-in-law are on the list. Her nephews too. She is not. Yet she worked that land, depended on it, and helped keep the household afloat. For a long time in Morocco, that scene was not an exception. It was the rule.
This is the heart of the debate around soulaliyate lands, also called collective lands or terres collectives. These lands cover millions of hectares across Morocco and concern a very large number of families, especially in rural areas such as Doukkala, Chaouia, Gharb, Souss and parts of the South. For decades, women from these communities were often treated as if they belonged to the tribe socially, but not legally when it came to enjoying the fruits of the land.
The 2019 reform changed that balance in an important way. Not magically. Not perfectly. But clearly. The adoption of Law No. 62-17 relating to the administrative guardianship of the State over soulaliyate communities and the management of their property, promulgated by Dahir No. 1-19-115 of 9 August 2019 and published in Bulletin Officiel No. 6806 of 22 August 2019, marked a turning point. Women are now recognized, in principle, on an equal footing with men in the enjoyment of rights attached to collective lands.
That sounds technical. Concretely, it means something very simple: a woman who proves she belongs to the relevant soulaliyate community can no longer lawfully be excluded just because she is a woman. She can claim registration among the beneficiaries, a share in revenues and compensation, and participation in community decisions.
But attention toutefois: written law and lived reality are not always the same thing. In practice, exclusion still happens. Lists are still contested. Local customs still resist. And some issues, especially inheritance and the status of women married outside the tribe, remain legally unsettled.
This article explains the legal framework, the historical exclusion of women, what the 2019 reform really changed, the steps women can take in 2024 and beyond, and the remedies available if local authorities or delegates refuse to apply the law. If you need broader background on Moroccan land law, see also this guide to Moroccan property and land law.
The paradox of soulaliyate women
For generations, many women were central to agricultural life on collective lands. They sowed, harvested, cared for livestock, managed households and preserved family ties within the community. Yet when land was redistributed, leased, ceded or compensated, they were often invisible in the legal process. The paradox is brutal: women helped create the value of the land but were denied access to its legal benefits.
Why this issue remains urgent
The issue has become even more sensitive because collective lands are no longer only about subsistence agriculture. They are increasingly tied to urban expansion, infrastructure, industrial projects, tourism, renewable energy, irrigation schemes and large agricultural investments. Once money enters the equation, exclusion becomes more painful and more visible. That is why the headline used by Challenge — “Terres Soulaliyates: sortez les calculettes, le décret est arrivé” — captured the moment so well. The reform is not abstract. It affects who gets paid, how much, and whether women are counted at all.
What is a soulaliyate land? The basic legal framework
Definition and legal nature of collective lands in Morocco
A soulaliyate land is land held collectively by a tribe, a fraction of a tribe, or an ethnically organized community. It does not belong, in principle, to one individual owner in the ordinary sense of private property under the Code des droits réels. Historically, these lands were governed by the Dahir of 27 April 1919, which organized the delimitation, conservation and administration of collective lands belonging to tribal communities.
The classic legal characteristics attached to these lands are well known in Moroccan land law: they are governed under a special regime, historically subject to administrative supervision, and they are not freely disposable in the same way as ordinary private property. In practical terms, the community holds the land collectively, while individual members may enjoy rights of use, exploitation or a share in proceeds according to community rules and state oversight.
This is precisely why one must distinguish soulaliyate land from other categories. It is not habous property. It is not the private domain of the State. It is not ordinary titled private property registered in the land registry in the name of a single person. It belongs to a specific legal universe within Moroccan land law.
The Dahir of 27 April 1919: the historical cornerstone
The 1919 Dahir is the historical foundation of the system. It placed collective lands under state tutelage and organized their management through local institutions and delegated representatives. Over time, the Ministry of the Interior, through the Direction des Affaires Rurales and local authorities such as the caïd, pacha and governor, became central actors in the administration of these lands.
Dahir of 27 April 1919: the historical text governing collective lands established the framework for their delimitation, conservation and administration under state supervision.
The old system rested heavily on customary norms. The jmaâ, meaning the tribal or community assembly, played a major role in local management. In theory, it expressed the will of the community. In reality, in many regions, it functioned as a male-only space. The naïbs — community delegates or representatives — were generally men, and they often filtered access to rights through deeply patriarchal customs.
Who were the traditional beneficiaries, and why women were excluded
Historically, rights were often distributed according to the logic of the khayma — literally the “tent,” meaning the male-headed household line. Rights attached to the family through men. Women existed within the social fabric, but many customary systems denied them autonomous entitlement. A daughter could be considered part of the tribe culturally, yet not counted as a beneficiary when land was allocated or compensation paid. A widow could spend decades working family plots, then be sidelined in favor of male agnates.
That exclusion was not always written in national legislation. Very often, it was produced by practice: local lists, oral custom, community pressure, and the discretionary behavior of delegates or authorities. This point matters. Because when women challenge exclusion today, they are not only confronting a legal issue. They are confronting a social structure.
Where soulaliyate lands are most present
Soulaliyate lands exist across several Moroccan regions, with strong concentrations in areas such as Doukkala-Abda, Gharb, Chaouia, Souss-Massa, certain pre-Saharan zones and the southern provinces. In these territories, the issue is not marginal. It shapes access to agricultural livelihoods, local power, and development compensation.
For women in places such as El Jadida, Settat, Kénitra, Agadir or surrounding rural communes, the reform of soulaliyate lands is therefore not an abstract constitutional debate. It is a matter of income, dignity and family survival. If you are facing a local dispute in one of these areas, specialized counsel may be useful, for example through land lawyers in El Jadida, Settat, Kénitra or Agadir.
The historical discrimination: how women were pushed out of the system
The “tent” logic and patriarchal customary law
The old customary model treated the household as represented by a man. That meant rights were often attached to male lineage and male headship. Women could benefit indirectly, through a father, husband or brother, but not as full legal actors in their own right. In clear terms, the system often assumed that the man was the legal gateway to the land.
That is why the expression discrimination foncière femmes collectivités ethniques is not exaggerated. The discrimination was structural. It affected access to use rights, participation in decision-making, shares of agricultural income, and especially compensation when land was leased, transferred or taken for public or private projects.
In my legal practice, I have seen files where a widow spent thirty years on land belonging to her community, only to discover that the compensation list named nephews living in the city who had not touched the soil in years. The law of 2019 was designed precisely to correct this kind of injustice. But correction begins with recognition, and recognition begins with registration.
The harshest situations: widows, divorced women, unmarried daughters
The most vulnerable cases were often widows, divorced women and unmarried women without brothers. A widow could lose the support of her husband’s line and be told that she had no independent entitlement. A divorced woman returning to her natal community could face resistance if local delegates considered her “outside” the effective beneficiary circle. Daughters without brothers could be symbolically acknowledged as members of the tribe but denied actual participation in benefits.
These exclusions became particularly dramatic during expropriation or cession operations. Once compensation money was distributed, women discovered that they had no seat at the table. By then, challenging the distribution was legally possible, but socially difficult and often financially burdensome.
Women married outside the tribe
One of the most sensitive issues concerns women who marry men from outside the soulaliyate community. Under older customary approaches, marriage outside the tribe could be used as a reason to exclude them. The implicit argument was that rights should remain with men who preserve the tribal line on the land. The legal weakness of that argument is obvious today, but its social persistence remains real in some regions.
The 2019 law did not settle this question with perfect clarity. It strongly supports equality among members of the community, but it does not spell out every practical consequence of marriage outside the tribe. As a result, implementation varies. Progressive local authorities tend to maintain women’s rights in their community of origin. More conservative settings may resist. This is one of the major unfinished chapters of the reform.
The role of civil society and the 2009 circular
Before the 2019 law, women’s rights associations had already pushed the issue into national debate. The Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc (ADFM), the Ligue Démocratique pour les Droits des Femmes (LDDF), the Union de l’Action Féminine (UAF), and organizations such as Migrations et Développement documented cases of exclusion and advocated reform. Their reports made visible what rural women had long known: the system was unequal.
A first institutional shift came with a 2009 circular from the Ministry of the Interior, which opened the door to recognition of women’s rights in certain contexts. But a circular is not the same as a law. It guides administration; it does not fully replace entrenched practice or create the same level of legal certainty. The real turning point came ten years later.
The 2019 reform: the Dahir and decree that changed the landscape
Law No. 62-17: content and scope of the reform
Law No. 62-17, promulgated by Dahir No. 1-19-115 of 9 August 2019 and published in Bulletin Officiel No. 6806 of 22 August 2019, reorganized the legal framework governing soulaliyate communities and the management of their assets. It modernized the old regime and, crucially, gave stronger legal footing to the principle that women and men belonging to the same community enjoy rights on an equal basis.
This is the key message of the reform soulaliyates égalité homme femme. The law moves away from customary exclusion and toward a rights-based framework consistent with the 2011 Constitution, especially Article 19, which affirms equality between men and women, and Article 35, which protects the right to property within the limits of the law.
Article 19 of the 2011 Constitution: men and women enjoy, on an equal footing, civil, political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights and freedoms.
That constitutional background matters. It gave the 2019 reform a normative anchor. The law on soulaliyate communities is not a charitable concession to women. It is an implementation of equality principles already recognized at the constitutional level and reinforced by Morocco’s international commitments, including CEDAW.
What the promulgating Dahir means in practice
The expression dahir terres soulaliyates 2019 is often used broadly in public discussion. Strictly speaking, the Dahir is the royal act promulgating the law. The operative rules are in the law itself and in implementing texts. But in ordinary conversation, people refer to the entire 2019 package as the “new Dahir.” What matters practically is this: after August 2019, exclusion of women solely on the basis of sex became much harder to defend legally.
The law also structures the role of the community’s representative bodies and reinforces state oversight over management decisions. In other words, local delegates can no longer claim unlimited customary discretion. Their actions are framed by statute and administrative control.
The implementing decree: why “bring out the calculators” made sense
The implementing decree, commonly cited as Decree No. 2-19-522, gave practical effect to the reform. This is where the press headline about calculators comes in. Once rights are recognized equally, the next question is immediate: who is on the list, how are shares counted, and how are revenues or compensation distributed?
That is not a symbolic issue. It concerns lease proceeds, cession revenues, expropriation indemnities and other financial benefits flowing from collective lands. Before, women were often absent from the arithmetic. After the reform, they must be counted among the beneficiaries if they are members of the relevant community and duly registered.
In plain language: the reform does not convert collective lands into individually owned plots for women. What it does is recognize women as full beneficiaries within the collective regime, with rights to use, enjoy proceeds and receive compensation under the same legal framework as men.
What the law says exactly, in accessible terms
Even if public debate simplifies things, the legal change can be stated clearly. The 2019 reform recognizes that members of soulaliyate communities, women and men alike, may benefit from rights related to collective lands according to the law and implementing measures. This includes registration among rights-holders, participation in community decisions where applicable, and access to the financial fruits of operations affecting the land.
That is why the phrase loi terres tribales femmes marocaines has become a common search term. Women are no longer legal shadows in this area. They are rights-holders. The challenge today is less the absence of a legal basis than the quality of implementation on the ground.
What the 2019 law changed concretely for rural women
The right to registration: the first gateway to rights
The first practical right is the right to be recognized and listed among the beneficiaries. Without registration, rights remain theoretical. A woman who belongs to a soulaliyate community must be able to request inclusion in the register of rights-holders maintained through the local administrative process.
This point is essential. Many women believe the law automatically gives them a share. It does not work like that. In practice, the administration and community structures rely on lists, records and documented membership. If your name is missing, payment or participation may be blocked until the issue is corrected.
Rights to revenues, compensation and use
The reform also affects financial entitlements. A duly recognized woman beneficiary has the right to a share of revenues generated by the land and to compensation when the land is expropriated, leased, transferred or otherwise monetized according to law. This is one of the most concrete expressions of droit des femmes terres collectives maroc.
At the same time, one must be precise. The reform did not create full individual ownership in the classic private-property sense. These lands remain collective by nature. So when people ask whether women now own soulaliyate land outright, the accurate answer is no, not in the ordinary sense of exclusive private ownership under the Code of Real Rights. What women gained is equality in use and enjoyment rights within the collective framework.
Participation in assemblies and community governance
The law also opens the door to women’s participation in community governance. Traditionally, the jmaâ was a male preserve. Today, excluding women from deliberation solely because they are women is increasingly difficult to reconcile with the statutory framework. In some areas, mixed participation is becoming more accepted. In others, social resistance remains strong.
This matters because governance determines everything else: how lists are drawn up, how disputes are handled, how revenues are distributed, and which projects are accepted. A woman absent from the assembly is often a woman absent from the decision.
What remains unresolved: succession and marriage outside the tribe
The expression terres collectives maroc succession femme points to one of the reform’s gray zones. The 2019 law greatly improved equality in the enjoyment of rights, but it did not settle every succession issue with complete precision. If a woman is recognized as a community member in her own right because she belongs by birth to the tribe, her entitlement should not depend solely on a male relative. But complex family disputes still arise when rights were historically mediated through a father or husband.
The same uncertainty affects women married outside the tribe. The legal trend favors maintaining their rights in their community of origin, but practice is uneven. So the answer is often case-specific and may require legal advice.
If you are facing this kind of dispute, consulting an attorney specialized in women’s rights in Morocco or a land lawyer in your region can make a major difference.
Practical steps: how a woman can assert her rights in 2024
Step 1: Confirm membership in the soulaliyate community
The first step is to establish your belonging to the relevant community. In practice, this usually involves approaching the caïdat or local authority with documents and, where necessary, witness statements. The exact administrative culture varies by province, but the basic aim is the same: to show that you are part of the tribe or fraction that holds rights over the collective land.
The most useful documents often include a national identity card, birth certificate, family record book, and, depending on the case, marriage certificate, divorce judgment, or documents relating to deceased ascendants. In some cases, testimony from recognized members of the community may also help establish lineage or belonging.
Step 2: Request inclusion in the register of beneficiaries
Once your membership is established, you should file a formal written request to be entered in the register of rights-holders. This request should be dated, signed, and filed in a way that leaves proof of deposit. Concretely, never rely only on oral promises. Ask for a receipt. Keep copies. If you send the request by mail, use a method that proves delivery.
This is where many disputes are won or lost. A woman who cannot prove that she applied may later struggle to challenge administrative silence or refusal. Paper matters. Receipts matter. Dates matter.
Step 3: Follow the file and participate in local procedures
Registration can take time. In some provinces, implementation is relatively advanced. In others, files move slowly and local resistance remains. Delays of several months are not unusual. During this period, it is wise to monitor any assembly, list publication, compensation operation or land transaction affecting the community.
If you are in Chaouia, for example, and a distribution or compensation process is underway around Settat, local legal support may be useful. See land lawyers in Settat. In Gharb, similar support may be sought through land lawyers in Kénitra.
Costs, delays and useful documents
The administrative steps themselves are generally free of charge. But small costs arise quickly: legalization and certification of documents often cost roughly 20 to 50 MAD per act, depending on the document and administrative formalities involved. Postal charges for registered letters are modest but should be factored in.
If a lawyer becomes necessary, fees vary with the complexity of the matter. For straightforward assistance with administrative démarches, one may see fees starting around 2,000 to 5,000 MAD. For contentious cases involving exclusion from compensation or judicial proceedings, fees can range more broadly, often between 3,000 and 15,000 MAD, sometimes more when the financial stakes are high.
Associations can also help. ADFM, LDDF, UAF and some regional legal aid initiatives sometimes provide orientation or support for women facing exclusion from collective land rights. The CNDH regional commissions may also offer guidance.
Legal remedies when a woman is excluded or a dispute arises
Administrative remedies first: caïd, governor, Ministry of the Interior
If the local delegates or community body refuse to register a woman despite clear membership, the first line of action is usually administrative. Start with a written complaint to the caïd. If there is no response or if the response is negative, escalate to the governor of the province or prefecture. It is also possible to address the Direction des Affaires Rurales at the Ministry of the Interior.
This graduated approach is not just bureaucratic caution. It helps build a file. Courts appreciate litigants who can show they attempted to resolve the issue through the administration and can produce copies of all correspondence.
The administrative court: the key judicial forum
When the dispute concerns an administrative decision related to soulaliyate lands, the competent court is generally the Administrative Court, created by Law No. 41-90 of 10 September 1993 instituting administrative courts. The territorially competent court is usually the one in whose jurisdiction the land or the administrative authority is located.
Article 23 of Law No. 41-90: actions for annulment based on abuse of power must, in principle, be brought within 60 days from the publication or notification of the contested administrative decision.
This 60-day deadline is critical. If there is a written refusal, count carefully. If there is silence, legal analysis becomes more delicate, and you should seek advice quickly. Missing the time limit can undermine an otherwise strong case.
For women confronting exclusion from a beneficiary list or compensation operation, specialized support before the administrative courts is often essential. You may consult an administrative law lawyer in Morocco or, depending on the city, land lawyers in Casablanca, Rabat or Marrakech.
What Moroccan case law shows
There is a growing tendency in Moroccan administrative case law to take women’s claims on soulaliyate lands more seriously, particularly after the 2019 reform. Decisions from administrative courts in Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakech have reflected a broader judicial openness to equality-based arguments when administrative bodies fail to respect the new legal framework. One must be careful not to invent case numbers or overstate uniformity. The jurisprudence is still developing, and published access is not always easy. But the trend is real: courts are less willing than before to accept customary exclusion that contradicts statutory equality.
This is why the phrase collectivités soulaliyates jurisprudence maroc matters in practice. The law is not only in the text; it is also in how judges react when exclusion is challenged. And increasingly, judges expect the administration to justify decisions in legal terms, not merely by invoking local custom.
Other possible channels: Diwan Al Madalim and rights institutions
Besides ordinary administrative appeals and court action, women may also approach Diwan Al Madalim, the Ombudsman institution, especially where maladministration or failure to process a legitimate request is involved. This is not a substitute for litigation when strict deadlines apply, but it can be useful in unlocking blocked files or drawing attention to unfair treatment.
The CNDH and women’s rights associations can also play a support role. Their intervention will not replace a court judgment, but it can strengthen visibility and pressure in cases where the law is being ignored locally.
A practical litigation strategy
For femmes exclues terres tribales recours juridique, the best strategy is usually disciplined and documentary. File a written request. Keep proof. Follow up in writing. Ask for reasons. Obtain copies of any list or decision. Identify witnesses if lineage or community membership is disputed. And if compensation is already being distributed, act fast. Delay helps those who want the file buried.
In many cases, the legal issue is less whether the woman has rights in principle and more whether she can prove she asserted them in time and can identify the exact administrative act to challenge.
Current challenges and future directions
Implementation remains uneven across regions
The honest assessment is this: the reform is real, but its application is uneven. Some provinces have moved further in recognizing women on beneficiary lists and in compensation operations. Others lag behind. In places where customary tribal structures remain particularly influential, women may still face pressure not to claim their rights openly.
So yes, soulaliyates réforme foncière Maroc is a genuine legal development. But no, it has not erased local resistance overnight. The distance between Rabat’s legal text and a rural jmaâ meeting can still be considerable.
Development pressure increases the stakes
The issue is becoming more urgent because collective lands are increasingly exposed to development pressure: agricultural investment, tourism, infrastructure, peri-urban expansion and strategic projects linked to territorial planning. In Souss-Massa, the Atlantic Sahara and other high-value zones, money can move quickly once land is mobilized. Women who are not registered risk being excluded before they even know a transaction is underway.
That is why vigilance matters. The best time to assert rights is not after compensation has been distributed. It is before.
The demands still pending
Associations continue to push for deeper reform. Among the unresolved points are clearer rules on succession, stronger guarantees for women married outside the tribe, more transparent beneficiary registers, and more effective female participation in community governance. Some also advocate broader reflection on whether parts of the collective regime should evolve toward more individualized and secure land tenure in certain contexts, while preserving community interests.
These demands are also tied to Morocco’s international obligations. Under CEDAW and the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 5 on gender equality and Goal 1.4 on equal rights to economic resources, land access for women is not a secondary issue. It is central to social justice and rural development.
Law on paper, law in life
A good jurist must say this plainly: legal reform is not self-executing. A statute can proclaim equality; a local list can still erase it. That is why women’s awareness, association support, administrative accountability and judicial oversight all remain necessary. The story of soulaliyate women in Morocco is not a story of total victory or total failure. It is a story of a real legal breakthrough whose full implementation is still being fought for.
Conclusion: Knowing your rights is the first step to using them
Morocco’s 2019 reform changed the legal position of women on soulaliyate lands in a fundamental way. A woman who belongs to a soulaliyate community is no longer supposed to be treated as a secondary beneficiary or excluded because of her sex. She can claim registration, participate in community life, and receive her share of revenues and compensation under the collective land regime.
But attention: the law does not act by itself. Registration is essential. Proof is essential. Deadlines are essential. And where resistance persists, legal recourse may be necessary.
If you are concerned by a dispute over femmes rurales droits fonciers Maroc, do not stay passive. Start by confirming your membership, filing your request in writing, and preserving every document. If needed, consult a specialist in land or administrative law. You can explore land lawyers in Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakech, or browse lawyers focused on women’s rights in Morocco.
The reform opened the door. The next step is making sure every woman concerned can actually walk through it.
