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LawLegianceWorld Legal Atlas
New editioncountry guide

The Haiti Legal System

A complete plain-language guide to Republic of Haiti

4.5(876 reviews)From $29
Edition
2026 Edition
Extent
1572 pages
Language
English
ISBN
978-1-0000-176-1

About this book

A structured tour of how law actually works in Haiti — where it comes from, who makes it, which court hears what, and how an ordinary person or business interacts with the system. Written for readers with no legal training, with every institution named and every primary source cited so you can verify the position yourself. A French civil-law system: the Code civil of 1825 and Code de commerce of 1826 were modelled directly on the Napoleonic codes and much of that text remains in force, making Haitian private law among the least revised in the Americas. Both French and Haitian Creole are official, but statutes and judgments are predominantly in French, which is a practical access-to-justice barrier. The constitutional order is severely disrupted: there has been no sitting legislature since January 2020 and no elected President since the assassination of Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, with executive authority exercised by a Transitional Presidential Council established in April 2024.

What is inside

  • Full Haiti court hierarchy explained tier by tier
  • Named regulators with contact routes and response times
  • Step-by-step procedures for the most common legal tasks
  • Every claim footnoted to an official primary source
  • Glossary of local legal terminology in plain English

Table of contents

5 parts · 18 chapters

Part I — Foundations

  1. 01The legal tradition
  2. 02Constitutional framework
  3. 03Sources of law

Part II — Institutions

  1. 01The court hierarchy
  2. 02Government and regulators
  3. 03Enforcement bodies
  4. 04The legal profession

Part III — Everyday Law

  1. 01Work and employment
  2. 02Housing and property
  3. 03Family and personal status
  4. 04Criminal process

Part IV — Doing Things

  1. 01Starting a business
  2. 02Immigration and residence
  3. 03Tax obligations
  4. 04Making a complaint

Part V — Reference

  1. 01Procedure checklists
  2. 02Glossary
  3. 03Official sources index

Who this is for

  • Residents and newcomers who need to understand their rights
  • Businesses entering or operating in the jurisdiction
  • Lawyers taking a first look at an unfamiliar system
  • Students of comparative law

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