Equatorial Guinea
Civil law
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Equatorial Guinea is a civil-law country whose legal system comes from Spain, and it is the only African country with Spanish as an official language. It also uses Uniform Acts for business law, through OHADA, and customary law in local matters.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Where the law comes from
- The Constitution, the highest law
- Codes and statutes in the Spanish tradition
- OHADA Uniform Acts for business law
- Customary law, in family and land matters
The main courts
- The Supreme Court of Justice
- Courts of appeal (audiencias)
- First-instance courts (juzgados)
Becoming a lawyer
A law degree and registration with the Bar.
What may surprise you
- It is the only African country that uses Spanish as an official language, alongside French and Portuguese.
- It joined OHADA, a mainly French-speaking system, and applies its Uniform Acts.
- Spanish codes from the colonial period remain a basis for much of private law.
Related systems
How this country is classified
The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Equatorial Guinea 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
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 Equatorial Guinea, consult a lawyer qualified there. Report a mistake.
