Egypt
Religious (Islamic) law is a leading source
Compare Egypt with another country →The courts of Egypt, as a diagram →
Egypt blends two traditions. Its everyday private and criminal law is written in civil-law codes on the French model, and the Constitution says that the principles of Islamic Sharia are the main source of legislation. The Civil Code of 1948, drafted by the jurist Abd El-Razzak El-Sanhuri, became a template for many Arab countries.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Where the law comes from
- The Constitution, including the provision on the principles of Sharia as the main source of legislation
- The Civil Code (1948), the Penal Code and other codes and statutes
- Principles of Islamic law and custom, which the Civil Code allows judges to use to fill gaps
- Decisions of the Court of Cassation and the Supreme Constitutional Court
The main courts
- Ordinary courts, with the Court of Cassation at the top
- The Council of State and its administrative courts for disputes with the government
- The Supreme Constitutional Court, which reviews laws
Becoming a lawyer
A law degree and registration with the Egyptian Bar Syndicate, with practice rights growing as the lawyer gains experience.
What may surprise you
- Two separate court systems: ordinary courts and administrative courts, as in France.
- The 1948 Civil Code has been widely copied in the Arab world.
- Sharia is a main source of legislation, yet most areas are governed by modern codes.
- Family matters are decided under the personal-status rules of each religious community.
Related systems
How this country is classified
The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Egypt as: Muslim, 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.
Other countries in the same family
Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Gambia, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan.
Sources
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 Egypt, consult a lawyer qualified there. Report a mistake.
