Lesotho
Mixed: civil and common law
Compare Lesotho with another country →
Lesotho is a mixed system: Roman-Dutch common law, brought from South Africa, and customary law that runs through a separate set of local courts. It has a Constitution of 1993 and a King as constitutional monarch.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Where the law comes from
- The Constitution of 1993, the highest law
- Statutes, and Roman-Dutch common law as developed in South Africa
- Customary law, applied in the Central and Local Courts
- Decisions of the Court of Appeal and the High Court
The main courts
- The Court of Appeal, the final court
- The High Court
- Magistrates' courts, and Central and Local Courts for custom
Becoming a lawyer
A law degree and admission as an attorney or advocate by the High Court.
What may surprise you
- It is completely surrounded by South Africa, and its law follows South African law closely.
- Customary courts are part of the court structure, not outside it.
- The King is a constitutional monarch, not a ruler.
Related systems
How this country is classified
The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Lesotho as: Common law, 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
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 Lesotho, consult a lawyer qualified there. Report a mistake.
