Family
No unified family code; custom and religion govern with statutory limits
Chad has never enacted a comprehensive family code — a 2001 draft was withdrawn after opposition. Marriage, divorce and succession are governed largely by customary and Islamic law, subject to statutory minimum-age and anti-FGM provisions in the 2017 Penal Code.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Ordinary courts apply customary or Islamic rules according to the parties; there is no separate Sharia court system.
- Deadline — Birth registration: within statutory period at the civil registry
- Deadline — Minimum age of marriage: 18 under the 2017 Penal Code
Governing law
- Ordonnance n° 03/INT/SUR of 1961 on civil status
- Loi n° 001/PR/2017 portant Code pénal — minimum marriage age and FGM offences
- Customary and Islamic law as applied by the courts
In practice
The absence of a family code makes Chad one of the clearest examples of legal pluralism operating by default rather than design: the applicable rules on divorce or inheritance depend on the parties' community, with the Penal Code supplying the only firm statutory limits.