Paraguay · Overview
The legal system of Paraguay
A civil-law system under the 1992 Constitution, drafted after the fall of the Stroessner dictatorship and built to prevent its recurrence: it bans presidential re-election outright. Paraguay is officially bilingual in Spanish and Guaraní, the only country in the Americas where an indigenous language is spoken by a majority and used in the courts, and interpretation into Guaraní is a practical requirement in much of the country.
Legal tradition
Paraguay belongs to the civil law tradition. A civil-law system under the 1992 Constitution, drafted after the fall of the Stroessner dictatorship and built to prevent its recurrence: it bans presidential re-election outright. Paraguay is officially bilingual in Spanish and Guaraní, the only country in the Americas where an indigenous language is spoken by a majority and used in the courts, and interpretation into Guaraní is a practical requirement in much of the country.
How power is divided
Unitary with seventeen departments and the capital district, each with an elected governor and departmental board holding administrative and limited fiscal competence. Legislative power is national.
Where law comes from
- Constitution
- Followed in rank by ratified treaties, then statutes.
- Statutes of Congress
- Codes are enacted as ordinary statutes.
- Codes
- Civil Code (1987), Penal Code (1997), Labour Code, Code of Criminal Procedure (1998).
- Case law
- Not binding; Supreme Court doctrine is persuasive.
The legal profession
A law degree and registration of the title with the Supreme Court, which maintains the roll and exercises discipline. Bar membership is voluntary. Because both Spanish and Guaraní are official, courts must provide interpretation, and practitioners outside Asunción are commonly bilingual.
Found something out of date on Paraguay · Overview?
Corrections are reviewed against the primary source before anything changes.