Cabo Verde
Civil law
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Cabo Verde is a civil-law country whose legal system comes from Portugal. It has a Constitution of 1992 and has been a stable multiparty democracy since the early 1990s.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Where the law comes from
- The Constitution of 1992, the highest law
- Codes and statutes in the Portuguese tradition
- Decisions of the Supreme Court of Justice and the Constitutional Court
The main courts
- The Supreme Court of Justice and the Constitutional Court
- Courts of appeal (Tribunais da Relação)
- Courts of first instance (comarcas)
Becoming a lawyer
A law degree, often from a Portuguese or Cape Verdean university, and registration with the Bar.
What may surprise you
- It follows the Portuguese model closely, as do Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa.
- It is an island state of ten islands with one legal system.
- Its legal education has strong links with Portugal.
Related systems
How this country is classified
The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Cabo Verde as: Civil law. It names the systems in order of importance.
The map colours a country by the first-named system, and shows both civil-law and common-law countries as “mixed”. It is a simplification, and real systems are rarely pure.
Other countries in the same family
Sources
Sources last reviewed: October 2026.
TheLawToKnow Tools’s Legal Families Atlas is an educational overview. It simplifies on purpose, and it is not legal advice. For a real legal question about Cabo Verde, consult a lawyer qualified there. Report a mistake.
