New Caledonia

• The Organic Law of 1999 and the Nouméa Accord, which set out the territory's special status
• Laws of the country, passed by the Congress of New Caledonia in its own fields
• French law, including the Civil Code, in other matters
• Kanak customary law, for those with customary civil status

• The Court of Cassation in Paris, the final court for ordinary cases
• The Court of Appeal of Nouméa
• The Court of First Instance of Nouméa, and customary assessors for customary matters

A French law degree and the French bar course, with admission to the Bar of Nouméa.

• People with 'customary civil status' have their family law decided by custom, not by the French Civil Code.
• A Customary Senate speaks for Kanak authorities on matters of custom.
• Its political status has been put to referendums, and the constitutional debate is not settled.

France, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, Vanuatu

The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists New Caledonia 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.