Uruguay
Civil law
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Uruguay is a civil-law country with a Constitution of 1967. Its Civil Code of 1868 borrowed from Andrés Bello's Chilean code and other models. It has no separate constitutional court: the Supreme Court decides if a law is unconstitutional, but only for the case at hand.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Where the law comes from
- The Constitution of 1967, the highest law
- The Civil Code (1868), the Penal Code and other codes and statutes
- Decisions of the Supreme Court
- International treaties, especially on human rights
The main courts
- The Supreme Court at the top
- Courts of appeal
- First-instance courts, justices of the peace and specialised courts
Becoming a lawyer
A law degree from a recognised university, then registration with the Supreme Court as an abogado.
What may surprise you
- Only the Supreme Court can declare a law unconstitutional, and its ruling applies only to the case in which the question is raised.
- The Civil Code of 1868 is still in force, in an updated form.
- Uruguay's courts follow civil-law methods but have borrowed from several Latin American neighbours.
Related systems
How this country is classified
The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Uruguay 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.
Other countries in the same family
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 Uruguay, consult a lawyer qualified there. Report a mistake.
