Philippines

• The Constitution of 1987, the highest law
• Statutes and codes, such as the Civil Code and the Revised Penal Code
• Decisions of the Supreme Court, which are treated as part of the law
• Muslim personal law, in the south

• The Supreme Court at the top
• The Court of Appeals, then regional trial courts and local trial courts
• Shari'a district and circuit courts for Muslim personal law, and special courts such as the Sandiganbayan for public officials

A law degree, then the Bar Examination set by the Supreme Court, and admission by the Supreme Court.

• The Supreme Court controls admission to the bar and writes the bar exam itself.
• Two traditions live together: civil-law codes and American-style judicial review and procedure.
• The Supreme Court's decisions form part of the legal system, in a common-law way.
• The Constitution gives courts a duty to settle questions of grave abuse of discretion by any branch of government.

United States, Spain, Mexico, South Africa, Israel

The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Philippines as: Common law, 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.

Botswana, Cameroon, Cyprus, Guyana, Israel, Lesotho, Malta, Mauritius, Namibia, Northern Cyprus, Saint Lucia, Seychelles, South Africa, Sri Lanka.

• Supreme Court of the Philippines

Sources last reviewed: October 2026.