Spain

• The Constitution of 1978, the highest law
• National codes and statutes, such as the Civil Code and the Penal Code, and regional laws in the autonomous communities
• European Union law, which takes priority in its area
• Case law of the Supreme Court, which supplements the statutes

• The Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo) at the top of the ordinary courts
• The Constitutional Court, which reviews laws and hears individual constitutional complaints (recurso de amparo)
• National High Court, regional high courts, provincial courts and first-instance courts

A law degree and a master's degree for the legal profession, practical training, and a state examination, followed by registration in a bar association (colegio de abogados).

• Some regions, such as Catalonia and Aragon, have their own civil laws in addition to the national Civil Code.
• Citizens can bring an individual constitutional complaint to the Constitutional Court once ordinary remedies are exhausted.
• Spanish law has been a model for most of Latin America.
• Court decisions are not formal precedent, but repeated Supreme Court rulings are followed in practice.

Italy, France, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil

The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Spain 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.

• Spanish Constitutional Court (English pages)
• Supreme Court of Spain (Tribunal Supremo)

Sources last reviewed: October 2026.