Haiti
Civil law
Compare Haiti with another country →
Haiti is a civil-law country whose legal system was built on the French Napoleonic codes, adapted in the nineteenth century. It has a Constitution of 1987, and its institutions are under strain, so this profile describes the formal structure.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Where the law comes from
- The Constitution of 1987, as amended, the highest law
- Codes based on the French codes, such as the Civil Code
- Decisions of the Court of Cassation
The main courts
- The Court of Cassation, the highest court
- Courts of appeal
- Civil tribunals of first instance and justices of the peace
Becoming a lawyer
A law degree and registration with a local Bar Association.
What may surprise you
- It was the first independent country in Latin America and the Caribbean, and its Civil Code of 1825 follows the French code.
- French and Haitian Creole are both official languages, but most people speak Creole, while the codes are in French.
- The state courts have limited reach, so formal law and daily practice can differ widely.
Related systems
How this country is classified
The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Haiti 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 Haiti, consult a lawyer qualified there. Report a mistake.
