Laos

• The Constitution of 1991, as amended, the highest law
• Laws passed by the National Assembly, such as the Civil Code and the Penal Law
• Decrees and decisions of the government

• The People's Supreme Court
• Courts of appeal
• Provincial, city and district people's courts, and military courts

A law degree and a licence from the Ministry of Justice, with membership of the Lao Bar Association. The profession is small.

• The National Assembly elects the head of the highest court.
• Courts operate under the guidance of the ruling party, as in other socialist systems.
• Modern commercial and civil laws were largely written in the last three decades.

Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, China, France

The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Laos 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.