Macau

• The Basic Law of Macao, the highest local law
• Codes based on Portuguese models, such as the Civil Code (1999) and the Commercial Code
• Laws made by the Legislative Assembly
• Decisions of the Court of Final Appeal

• The Court of Final Appeal
• The Court of Second Instance
• The Court of First Instance and the Administrative Court

A law degree (usually from Macau, Portugal or China), practical training, and registration with the Macau Lawyers Association.

• It is a civil-law jurisdiction inside China, beside Hong Kong's common-law system.
• Laws are published in both Chinese and Portuguese.
• Its Basic Law can be interpreted by the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress.

Portugal, China, Hong Kong, Cabo Verde, Angola

The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Macau 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.