Angola · Overview
The legal system of Angola
A Portuguese-tradition civil-law system, not an OHADA member, so commercial law is genuinely national — the 2004 Commercial Companies Law and the private investment and petroleum regimes are the operative texts. The 2010 constitution created a strong presidency and a Constitutional Court that has been active in electoral and rights matters.
Legal tradition
Angola belongs to the civil law (portuguese tradition) tradition. A Portuguese-tradition civil-law system, not an OHADA member, so commercial law is genuinely national — the 2004 Commercial Companies Law and the private investment and petroleum regimes are the operative texts. The 2010 constitution created a strong presidency and a Constitutional Court that has been active in electoral and rights matters.
How power is divided
A strongly presidential system in which the President is both head of state and head of government, with a unicameral National Assembly and a judiciary headed by the Supreme Court and a separate Constitutional Court.
Where law comes from
- Constitution
- Supreme law; 2010 text.
- International law
- Ratified treaties form part of the domestic order.
- Laws and presidential legislative decrees
- Assembly statutes and delegated instruments.
- Codes and commercial statutes
- Civil Code, Commercial Companies Law 2004, private investment and petroleum laws.
- Customary law
- Recognised where consistent with the constitution and public order.
The legal profession
Advogados admitted through the Ordem dos Advogados de Angola after a law degree and traineeship; notaries and registrars form separate careers.
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