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Article (136): Grievances and Appeals Committee

Fed Law 14/2018 Issued on 1/10/2018

1) Under the provisions of this Decretal Law, an independent committee named “Grievances and Appeals Committee” shall be established. The Cabinet shall issue a resolution, based on a proposal by the Board of Directors, establishing the committee’s formation, duration, system of work, and all procedures and rules related to adjudication of grievances and appeals, including fees due for consideration.

2) In the formation of the committee, the presence of one or more judges and two experts with competence in financial and banking matters should be taken into consideration.

3) A nominated committee member may not be a member of the Board of Directors, nor holder of any position at the Central Bank or at any of the Licensed Financial Institution.

4) The chairman of the committee or any of its members shall have no interest with any party to the dispute, otherwise he shall be required to disclose such interest, and in such case another member shall be temporarily appointed to hear the presented dispute.

5) With the exception of the regulations, directives, instructions, policies, and regulatory and supervisory decisions of a general nature, the Committee, shall solely and exclusively have jurisdiction to decide on grievances and appeals against any decisions related to financial and banking activities issued by the Central Bank in accordance to the provision of this Decretal Law, and may, for such purposes take all or some of the following actions:

  1. a. Require any Person to appear in front of the Committee to present any evidence, testimony, information or statement.
  2. b. Hear the testimony of any witnesses under oath.
  3. c. Commission any experts it deems appropriate to provide opinion on any matter relating to the dispute.
  4. d. Take whichever actions and procedures it deems appropriate for discharge of its mandate.

6) Appeals against decisions that fall within the competence of the committee in accordance with the provisions of this article are not accepted before the grievance or appeal thereon before the committee, and the grievance is decided according to the circumstances.

7) If the Committee decided to reject or not accept the grievance of appeal, the Committee may impose on the applicant a fine, not exceeding (200,000) two hundred thousand Dirhams.

8) The Committee may suspend the appealed decision, if necessary, until it reached a decision on the dispute.

9) The grievance or appeal against any decision before the committee shall not be accepted after the lapse of (15) fifteen working days from the date on which the concerned person is notified of it, or if his knowledge of it is proven with certainty.

10) A decision issued by the Committee on the grievance or appeal shall be final and shall only be challenged at the Higher Federal Court within a period of (20) twenty work days from date of its notification. The Higher Federal Court may, upon request of the appellant, suspend the decision issued by the Committee until it reached its decision on the subject, if it considered that the appeal is based on genuine grounds and that implementation of the Committee’s decision shall have irreversible consequences.

 

This article has been amended by Decretal Federal Law No. (25) of 2020, and Decretal Federal Law No. (9) of 2021 respectively. You are viewing the latest version. To view previous versions, click the version boxes below.
Version 2(effective from 02/01/2021 to 26/07/2021)

 

1) Under the provisions of this Decretal Law, a committee within the Central Bank, named “Grievances & Appeals Committee” shall be established. The Cabinet shall issue a resolution, based on a proposal by the Board of Directors, establishing the committee’s formation, duration, system of work, and all procedures and rules related to adjudication of grievances and appeals, including fees due for consideration.

2) In the formation of the committee, the presence of one or more judges and two experts with competence in financial and banking matters should be taken into consideration.

3) A nominated committee member may not be a member of the Board of Directors, nor holder of any position at the Central Bank or at any of the Licensed Financial Institution.

4) The chairman of the committee or any of its members shall have no interest with any party to the dispute, otherwise he shall be required to disclose such interest, and in such case another member shall be temporarily appointed to hear the presented dispute.

5) The Committee shall have the jurisdiction to decide on grievances and appeals against any decisions related to financial and banking activities issued by the Central Bank related to licensing, authorization of individuals, and licensing and designation of Financial Infrastructure Systems, and may, for such purposes take all or some of the following actions:

  • a. Require any Person to appear in front of the Committee to present any evidence, testimony, information or statement.
  • b. Hear the testimony of any witnesses under oath.
  • c. Commission any experts it deems appropriate to provide opinion on any matter relating to the dispute.
  • d. Take whichever actions and procedures it deems appropriate for discharge of its mandate.

6) If the Committee rejected the grievances or appeal on the grounds that it was filed by a party of no capacity or interest, the Committee may impose on the applicant a fine, not exceeding two hundred thousand (200,000) Dirhams.

7) The Committee may suspend the appealed decision, if necessary, until it reached a decision on the dispute.

8) A decision issued by the Committee on the grievance or appeal shall be final and shall only be challenged at the Higher Federal Court within a period of twenty (20) work days from date of its notification. The Higher Federal Court may, upon request of the appellant, suspend the decision issued by the Committee until it reached its decision on the subject, if it considered that the appeal is based on genuine grounds and that implementation of the Committee’s decision shall have irreversible consequences

 

Version 1(effective from 31/10/2018 to 02/01/2021)

 

1) An independent committee, named “Grievances & Appeals Committee” shall be established in accordance with the provisions of this decretal law under the chairmanship of a Court of Appeal judge, and membership of two (2) judges from the same court, in addition to two (2) experts nominated by the Board of Directors.

2) The Cabinet shall issue a resolution naming the chairman and members of the committee, based on the nomination of the Higher Judicial Council, with respect to the chairman of the committee and its member judges.

3) The Cabinet shall issue a resolution, based on a proposal by the Board of Directors, establishing the committee’s charter, which would include:

  • a. All rules and procedures relating to settlement of grievances and appeals, including payable fees.
  • b. Remunerations of members of the committee.

4) Membership of the committee shall be for a term of four (4) years, renewable to similar period(s). In case the seat of a member became vacant before expiry of the membership term, for whatever reason, a successor shall be appointed for the remaining term, in the same manner in which the previous member was selected.

5) A nominated committee member may not be a member of the Board of Directors, nor holder of any position at the Central Bank or at any of the Licensed Financial Institution.

6) The chairman of the committee or any of its members shall have no interest with any party to the dispute, otherwise he shall be required to disclose such interest, and in such case another member shall be temporarily appointed to hear the presented dispute.

7) The Committee shall have the sole and exclusive jurisdiction to decide on grievances and appeals against any decisions by the Central Bank related to licensing, authorization of individuals, and licensing and designation of Financial Infrastructure Systems, and may, for such purposes take all or some of the following actions:

  • a. Require any Person to appear in front of the Committee to present any evidence, testimony, information or statement.
  • b. Hear the testimony of any witnesses under oath.
  • c. Commission any experts it deems appropriate to provide opinion on any matter relating to the dispute.
  • d. Take whichever actions and procedures it deems appropriate for discharge of its mandate.

8) If the Committee rejected the grievances or appeal on the grounds that it was filed by a party of no capacity or interest, the Committee may impose on the applicant a fine, not exceeding two hundred thousand (200,000) Dirhams.

9) The Committee may suspend the appealed decision, if necessary, until it reached a decision on the dispute.

10) A decision issued by the Committee on the grievance or appeal shall be final and shall only be challenged at the Higher Federal Court within a period of twenty (20) work days from date of its notification. The Higher Federal Court may, upon request of the appellant, suspend the decision issued by the Committee until it reached its decision on the subject, if it considered that the appeal is based on genuine grounds and that implementation of the Committee’s decision shall have irreversible consequences