Chad
Civil law
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Chad is a civil-law country with a legal system inherited from France. Islamic law and customary law matter in family life, especially in the north, and business law is shared with other OHADA countries.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Where the law comes from
- The Constitution, the highest law
- Codes and statutes in the French tradition
- OHADA Uniform Acts for business law
- Islamic and customary law, in family and local matters
The main courts
- The Supreme Court and the Constitutional Council
- Courts of appeal
- First-instance courts, and customary courts in some areas
Becoming a lawyer
A law degree and professional training, then registration with the Bar of Chad.
What may surprise you
- French-style codes, Islamic law and local custom all operate in the same country.
- The country is divided between a largely Muslim north and a largely Christian and animist south, and the legal picture varies.
- Business law is made at the OHADA level.
Related systems
How this country is classified
The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Chad as: Civil law, Customary. 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
- OHADA: Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa
- JuriGlobe: world legal systems (University of Ottawa)
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 Chad, consult a lawyer qualified there. Report a mistake.
