What the firm sees most often in property-spoliation files is not a perfect forgery but a delay: an owner who discovered the facts and then waited, negotiated, travelled, or assumed it would be settled amicably. This article explains the deadlines that govern these cases under Moroccan law, and why time always favours the spoliator.
First deadline: the limitation period for prosecution
Under Article 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, prosecution is time-barred after fifteen years for felonies, four years for misdemeanours and one year for petty offences, counted from the day the offence was committed, with the period interrupted by any act of investigation or prosecution.
Which period applies to your file depends on the characterisation of the facts:
- Forgery of a public or authentic instrument (notarial deed, adoulaire deed, administrative document) is a felony under Articles 351 to 353 of the Penal Code: fifteen years.
- Forgery of a private or commercial document (Articles 357 and 358), fraud (Article 540) and breach of trust (Article 547) are misdemeanours: four years.
This is the origin of the “four-year deadline” spoken of in spoliation cases: many forged powers of attorney are drawn up privately or presented as such, and the forger waits for four years to pass so that prosecution lapses. Do not let others fix the characterisation for you: the complaint is filed under every possible characterisation and leaves the final one to the prosecutor and the court.
Second deadline: the race against the third-party buyer
The real danger is not only prescription but the second sale. Between the date of the fraudulent entry and the date you act, the spoliator seeks to resell to a third party presented as a good-faith buyer, because the land registration Dahir protects the good-faith third party who registered his right in reliance on the title (Article 66). Case law holds that good faith is a question of fact and that fraud vitiates everything, but that is a long evidential fight. The protective registration (Articles 85 and 86) ends the race on the day it is made: anyone dealing afterwards knows of the dispute.
Third deadline: the civil action and registered property
An important rule favours the owner: under Article 63 of the land registration Dahir, prescription can in no case be a way of acquiring or losing a real right over registered property. The action for nullity of the forged deed and cancellation of the entry therefore does not lapse after fifteen years like an ordinary personal action. But the rule does not replace evidence: the longer the delay, the more testimony disappears, witnesses die and sales follow one another.
What this means in practice
- The week you discover the facts: certificate of ownership, then protective registration.
- The same month: complaint for forgery, use of forged documents and fraud, under every characterisation, with civil-party claim and a request for handwriting expertise.
- In parallel: action for nullity and cancellation before the court of first instance, or waiting for the criminal judgment depending on the file.
- No negotiation, signature or payment before consulting a lawyer: negotiating does not interrupt prescription, and signing may regularise the forgery.
See also: My property was sold with a forged power of attorney: what to do
Frequently asked questions
I discovered the fraud after five years. Is it over?
No. If the facts are a felony (forgery of an authentic instrument, for example), the limitation period is fifteen years. And even if prosecution of a misdemeanour is time-barred, the civil action to recover registered property remains possible in principle, because prescription neither creates nor extinguishes a real right over registered property. But time makes proof harder and strengthens the third-party buyer's position.
From what date does the period run?
The rule is that prosecution is time-barred from the day the offence was committed, the period being interrupted by any investigative or prosecutorial act. The date you discover the facts is not necessarily the starting point, which is exactly what makes waiting dangerous.
Which step stops the danger immediately?
A protective registration on the land title, then the complaint. The protective registration waits for no investigation and prevents any later buyer from claiming good faith.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Every matter has its own facts and calls for its own assessment.
