Cameroon · Overview
The legal system of Cameroon
Africa's clearest bijural system: English common law applies in the North-West and South-West regions, French-derived civil law in the other eight, a legacy of the 1961 reunification of British Southern Cameroons with French Cameroun. The tension between the two traditions is central to the ongoing anglophone crisis. OHADA governs commercial law nationwide.
Legal tradition
Cameroon belongs to the mixed (civil law and common law) tradition. Africa's clearest bijural system: English common law applies in the North-West and South-West regions, French-derived civil law in the other eight, a legacy of the 1961 reunification of British Southern Cameroons with French Cameroun. The tension between the two traditions is central to the ongoing anglophone crisis. OHADA governs commercial law nationwide.
How power is divided
A strongly presidential system with a bicameral Parliament of National Assembly and Senate, and a judiciary in which the Supreme Court sits above separate common-law and civil-law appellate structures.
Where law comes from
- Constitution
- Supreme; preamble incorporates international rights instruments.
- OHADA Uniform Acts
- Directly applicable commercial law in both legal zones.
- Laws and ordinances
- Parliamentary statutes and presidential ordinances.
- Received common law
- Applies in the North-West and South-West regions.
- Civil-law codes
- Civil, penal (2016) and procedure codes in the francophone regions.
- Customary law
- Applied by customary courts where not repugnant to statute.
The legal profession
A single bar for both legal zones: advocates admitted to the Cameroon Bar Association may practise in common-law and civil-law courts alike, which makes bilingual competence a practical necessity.
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