San Marino

• The Statutes of 1600 and the Declaration of the Rights of Citizens of 1974, the highest law
• Laws passed by the Great and General Council
• The ius commune (old Roman and canon law), as a supplementary source
• Italian law, which is often followed in practice

• The Guarantors' Panel, which checks laws against the Constitution
• The Judge of Appeal and the Judge of Third Instance
• The Law Commissioner and the Conciliation Judge, at first instance

A law degree, usually from an Italian university, and registration with the San Marino Bar.

• Two Captains Regent, elected every six months, share the role of head of state.
• Many judges are Italian magistrates who work in San Marino under an agreement.
• A written Statute dating from 1600 is still part of its basic law.

Italy, Vatican City, Monaco, Andorra, Liechtenstein

The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists San Marino 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.