Malawi

• The Constitution of 1994, the highest law
• Acts of Parliament, and English common law and equity
• Customary law, in family and land matters
• Decisions of the Supreme Court of Appeal and the High Court

• The Supreme Court of Appeal, the final court
• The High Court
• Magistrates' courts

A law degree and a period of practical training, then admission by the High Court.

• A written Constitution with a bill of rights, introduced in the 1990s, is directly enforceable in the courts.
• Customary law applies alongside statutes for many people.
• Its courts often cite English, South African and other Commonwealth decisions.

Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda

The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Malawi as: Common 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.

Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Cook Islands, Dominica, Fiji, Ghana, Grenada, India, Ireland, Jamaica.

• JuriGlobe: world legal systems (University of Ottawa)
• Constitute Project: constitution of Malawi

Sources last reviewed: October 2026.