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Bridging Continents, Binding Laws: Inside the India-Morocco MLAT
- THE GEOSTRATA
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
In a world that is increasingly interdependent, with crime and commercial disputes occurring across jurisdictions, international cooperation with respect to the legal and judicial aspects of these disputes is critical.
Illustration by The Geostrata
On July 31, 2025, India and Morocco, two nations with a long diplomatic relationship, took the next steps toward furthering international cooperation by issuing a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) and a related Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The documents are more than mere administrative documents; this demonstrates the commitment of both parties to not only deeper bilateral relationships, but to modernise their legal systems and recognise the necessity of the rule of law in an increasingly globalised world.
UNDERSTANDING THE TREATY: WHAT IS MLAT?
A Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) is fundamentally an agreement between two (or more) countries, in which each country agrees to provide and receive evidence for legal proceedings. Legal proceedings can include criminal investigations, civil cases, or commercial/money-related matters. Without a treaty, there may be no easy way for one country to request assistance from another country in a formal manner, and these requests can take significant time and effort.
An MLAT facilitates this process by establishing a definable legal framework for the two countries to cooperate. These topics can include, all or anything in between the service of judicial documents, summons and notices, taking evidence, and enforcing judgments and arbitral awards.
THE MoU AND THE MLAT BETWEEN INDIA AND MOROCCO: A DUAL STRATEGY
The recent agreements between India and Morocco are especially noteworthy because they create a comprehensive framework of cooperation by putting in place both a formal treaty and a more general memorandum of understanding.
MLAT for Civil and Commercial Matters: This treaty centers the widest measure of legal assistance in civil and commercial civil matters as possible. It ultimately provides a legal basis for:
Service of judicial documents: Obtaining service of summons or any other legal documents to persons or entities in the other country.
Taking of evidence: Obtaining evidence such as witness statements by way of formal “Letters of Request”.
Execution of judgments: Facilitating judicial judgments, decrees, settlements and arbitral awards across borders, which is significant for the business environment of both countries. This provision provides Indian and Moroccan companies participating in bilateral trade and investment with a new degree of confidence and security as they do business across borders.
MoU on Legal and Judicial Cooperation: While the MLAT is used to address discrete legal requests, the MoU will have a unique basis to deepen a collaborative relationship. It is a commitment to work together in the area of law by creating institutional connections and encouraging knowledge sharing. The larger geopolitical implication of the MoU includes:
India Integrates Into Moroccan Governance: The MoU facilitates exchange opportunities among judges, legal professionals, and justice ministries. By formally integrating India into Morocco's statutory practice, the MoU gives India a foothold into Morocco's long-term legal framework. Institutional presence, as opposed to political presence, has a capacity to exert influence that withstands political change.
A Counterbalance to Chinese, EU, and GCC: Influences on African legal frameworks are generally either based on European traditions or on digitised Chinese models. India's MoU offers Morocco a third option, a partnership based in the Global South, that respects sovereignty and offers a non-Western and non-Chinese legal alternative.
Fortifying Global South Norms in Law: In the realm of digital justice, training programs, and legislative exchanges, the MoU offers opportunities for members of Global South nations to create a series of legal norms. This collaborative effort creates a form of legal scaffolding that may help reduce Morocco's dependence on Western legal traditions and increase India's normative influence.
Trust Through Institutions, Not Politics: Political relationships can be tenuous, while legal relationships are a durable framework for building trust. When judges, bureaucrats, and attorneys regularly share and collaborate, they establish trust between states, which enhances the stability of the India-Morocco partnership.
Entry Point into the Maghreb: Morocco is arguably North Africa's most stable legal centre. A deeply integrated relationship with Morocco offers India's network access into Algeria, Tunisia, or the Francophone extended overarching political and jurisdictional sphere of influence. Understanding the 130 year context of India's Africa strategy suggests India believes that time and process in alignment with its long desired Africa will work in its favour.
BROADER CONSEQUENCES OF THE INDIA-MOROCCO MLAT AND MoU
Furthermore, the agreement has broader geostrategic and structural implications. First, it signals India’s pivot towards using legal diplomacy as a tool of influence, deploying courts, regulations, and institutional cooperation to develop a longer-term strategic presence in regions where China and Europe operate through infrastructure or finance.
Second, it strengthens India's position in North Africa’s growing economic corridors, linking Indian trade and investment to both Europe and West Africa through Morocco's ports and logistics hubs.
Third, it adds to the creation of new legal norms in the Global South by diversifying reliance on Western arbitration frameworks to create credible options to resolve commercial disputes.
Fourth, by modernising justice systems together, both India and Morocco create some alignment around cybersecurity and digital governance, which is emerging as a new dimension of global rivalry.
Finally, collectively, the agreement adds to India's credibility as a rules-based actor capable of shaping international standards and actions while not just agreeing to them, thus further developing its strategic footprint in a broader Indian-African region context.
WHY THIS PARTNERSHIP IS A GAME-CHANGER?
The MLAT and MoU between India and Morocco are not just some additional international agreements. They are an important signal of strategic partnership beyond traditional trade and diplomacy. The importance of this development lies in the following factors:
Increasing Economic Certainty: For businesses and investors, cross-border legal enforcement of contracts and judgments is a key element of creating a predictable and safe investment environment. This MLAT reduces the level of risk and uncertainty associated with cross-border legal disputes and increases the attractiveness of India and Morocco as partners to each other's private sectors.
A Gateway to New Markets: Morocco's significant geographic position as an access point to Africa and Europe, combined with India's status as an economic power, makes this a compelling partnership. By developing their legal frameworks, both state members are establishing themselves as viable, trusted conduits for international business.
Modernising Justice Systems: The importance of technological collaboration to improve capacity, as part of the MoU, is evidence that both parties intend to modernise their legal systems, a positive endeavour on behalf of both parties to implement global best practices and utilise digital technologies for better and more transparent justice delivery.
Addressing Transnational Threats: Despite the last two agreements being limited to civil and commercial matters, the signed agreements build upon an already existing mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) with respect to criminal matters. Taking a comprehensive approach, the two state members are signalling a commitment to act in concert against a range of transnational issues, including organised crime, terrorism and a meaningful commitment to promoting regional and international security.
A Model for South-South Cooperation: This agreement serves as a wonderful example of what "South-South" cooperation can look like, in that developing countries can work together to develop their own scope and means of development and gain leverage on the global stage. This agreement also demonstrates how legal and regulatory change can be developed anywhere based on a vision to develop even if there are no existing partnerships.
To summarise, the legal bridges created by India and Morocco through these various agreements demonstrate diplomatic foresight and a commitment to a robust bilateral relationship. Moreover, they follow on from long-term planning and strategic alignment, which offers a strong basis to build upon for expanded trade, manufacturing and economic ties in the future, professional and actualisation under the legal framework, and broader international stability.
In fact, their partnership could serve as a template for other countries, and there are now opportunities to further develop legal cooperation as an avenue to establish economic prosperity.
BY MUSKAN GUPTA
TEAM GEOSTRATA
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