Cook Islands
Common law
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The Cook Islands is a self-governing country in free association with New Zealand, with a Constitution of 1965 and English-based common law. Its courts include a special court for customary land.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Where the law comes from
- The Constitution of 1965, the highest law
- Acts of Parliament, and English common law and New Zealand law as received
- Customary law, especially for land
- Decisions of the High Court and the Court of Appeal
The main courts
- The Court of Appeal
- The High Court, with a Land Division for customary land
- Justices of the Peace for minor cases
Becoming a lawyer
A law degree, usually from New Zealand, and admission to practise by the High Court.
What may surprise you
- Its people are New Zealand citizens, but the country makes its own laws.
- Land is held by families under custom, and a special division of the High Court decides disputes.
- Judges often come from New Zealand.
Related systems
New Zealand, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji
How this country is classified
The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Cook Islands as: Common 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 Cook Islands, consult a lawyer qualified there. Report a mistake.
