Journalistic Status between Formation and Proof: A Study of the Legal Function of the Professional Press Card under Moroccan Law

Abstract

This study examines the legal function of the professional press card under Moroccan law by distinguishing between the constituent elements of professional journalist status, the conditions for entitlement to the press card, its function as proof of that status, and the legal effects attached to its possession or withdrawal. It adopts an analytical approach to the legal provisions governing professional journalist status and the press card, while drawing on a functional comparison with French law where this helps clarify the relationship between status and the card, and referring to judicial practice where relevant to assessing the application of the legal rules.

  The study finds that the conventional distinction between a press card as constitutive of professional journalist status and a press card as merely evidentiary of that status is insufficient to explain its legal function. Although the card primarily serves as legal proof of a status whose constituent elements are defined independently by law, entitlement to the card is subject to conditions that do not all form part of the legal definition of that status. The legislature may also make possession of a valid press card a condition for a specific legal effect to arise, or attach consequences to its withdrawal that affect the continuation of journalistic practice without necessarily extinguishing professional journalist status itself.

  The study therefore identifies four distinct but interrelated legal levels: the formation of professional journalist status, entitlement to the press card, proof of status through the card, and the specific legal effects attached to its possession or withdrawal. It concludes that identifying the legal source of the effect at issue is an essential criterion for interpreting the rules governing the professional press card