São Tomé and Príncipe
Civil law
Compare São Tomé and Príncipe with another country →
São Tomé and Príncipe is a civil-law country whose legal system comes from Portugal. It has a Constitution with a multiparty system and uses Portuguese codes and procedures.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Where the law comes from
- The Constitution, the highest law
- Codes and statutes in the Portuguese tradition
- Decisions of the Supreme Court of Justice
The main courts
- The Supreme Court of Justice, and a Constitutional Court
- Courts of first instance in each district
- Specialised courts for some matters
Becoming a lawyer
A law degree, often from a Portuguese university, and registration with the Bar.
What may surprise you
- The islands have a small legal profession, and many lawyers train in Portugal.
- The legal system follows Portuguese codes closely.
- It is one of several Portuguese-speaking African legal systems with strong ties to Lisbon.
Related systems
How this country is classified
The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists São Tomé and Príncipe as: 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
- JuriGlobe: world legal systems (University of Ottawa)
- Constitute Project: constitution of Sao Tome and Principe
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 São Tomé and Príncipe, consult a lawyer qualified there. Report a mistake.
