Report on the conference held in Casablanca on 3 November 2025 in partnership with DWF
On 3 November 2025, the Business Mediation Center (Centre de Médiation pour l'Entreprise – CME) of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Morocco (Chambre Française de Commerce et d'Industrie du Maroc – CFCIM), in partnership with the FrancoMoroccan Association of Business Lawyers (Association FrancoMarocaine des Avocats d'Affaires – AFMAA) and the Paris Mediation and Arbitration Center (Centre de Médiation et d'Arbitrage de Paris – CMAP), organised a meeting on the theme of "Mediation practice: a French-Moroccan perspective".
With leading experts from both countries – including Bruno Richard, DWF partner, Tristan Annoot, DWF associate, Yasmine Essakalli, Sylvain Alassaire and Lina Reyes – the conference highlighted how mediation is reshaping business relations and creating new opportunities for collaboration.
The meeting focused on four themes, analysing the points of convergence and divergence between the Moroccan and French systems and assessing the contribution of this alternative dispute resolution method to relations between French and Moroccan companies:
1. Managers faced with conflict and the role of the lawyer
The first round table discussed how in both France and Morocco, mediation is a voluntary, flexible and costeffective alternative to litigation. It saves time and money, protects business relationships through confidentiality, and delivers durable agreements in a secure ethical framework. With lawyers guiding clients before, during and after the process, mediation becomes not just a way to resolve disputes, but a strategic tool to turn conflict into opportunity.
2. The legal framework for mediation
The second round table examined the legal framework of mediation in France and Morocco, stressing the distinction between conventional and judicial mediation — the latter not yet existing in Morocco. Speakers compared procedural aspects such as formalism, deadlines, ethics, and the role of judges, while highlighting Morocco’s unique features: mediation agreements must take the form of a transaction with res judicata effect, and mediators themselves draft and sign the settlement alongside the parties. In France, agreements are prepared jointly by the parties and their counsel, with mediators now required to certify that the protocol genuinely results from mediation.
3. Mediation training
The speakers agreed that training is essential to the growth of mediation and highlighted initiatives led by the CMAP in France and the CME in Morocco. Established in 1995 by the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the CMAP is a leading center for conflict management and knowledge development. More recently, the CFCIM, in partnership with CMAP, created the CME to provide Moroccan companies with similar support in resolving disputes amicably.
4. The benefits of mediation in disputes between French and Moroccan companies
The closing session highlighted mediation as a powerful tool for resolving disputes between French and Moroccan businesses, with the strong partnership between CME and CMAP serving as a key advantage. Speakers underlined the added value of comediation, where mediators from different cultures foster dialogue and trust. The conference confirmed the growing momentum of mediation across diverse sectors in both countries and its expanding scope through project mediation, reinforcing its role as a driver of cooperation and sustainable business relations.
