French Southern and Antarctic Lands

• The law that created the territory, and decrees made for it
• French laws, which apply only where they state that they do
• The Antarctic Treaty, for Adélie Land

• There are no standing local courts
• Cases are heard by French courts, with local officials acting for the territory
• Appeals follow the French system, up to the Court of Cassation

There is no resident legal profession. French lawyers handle cases that arise.

• French laws do not apply to it automatically, because the 'principle of legislative specialty' requires that each law say so.
• Part of the territory is subject to the Antarctic Treaty, which freezes territorial claims.
• Much of its law concerns fishing and environmental protection.

France, Madagascar, Mauritius

The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists French Southern and Antarctic Lands 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.

Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria.

• JuriGlobe: world legal systems (University of Ottawa)

Sources last reviewed: October 2026.