Uruguay

Legal tradition

Uruguay belongs to the civil law tradition. A civil-law system under the 1967 Constitution, and consistently the region's strongest performer on rule-of-law and judicial-independence measures. Uruguay is unusual for how much law is made by direct democracy: the Constitution allows citizen-initiated referendums to repeal statutes and plebiscites to amend the Constitution, and both have overturned major legislation. It legalised and regulated cannabis in 2013, the first country in the world to do so at national level.

How power is divided

Unitary. Nineteen departments have elected intendentes and juntas with administrative and local taxing competence, and municipalities were added in 2010, but all legislative power belongs to the General Assembly.

Where law comes from

Constitution

Amendable by plebiscite, including on citizen initiative.

Statutes of the General Assembly

Subject to repeal by citizen-initiated referendum within a year.

Codes

Civil Code (1868), Penal Code, General Code of Procedure (1989), which pioneered oral civil procedure in the region.

Case law

Not binding; doctrine and Supreme Court practice are influential.

The legal profession

A degree from the Universidad de la República or an accredited private faculty confers the title of abogado, with registration by the Supreme Court. Membership of the Colegio de Abogados del Uruguay is voluntary; the Supreme Court exercises discipline. Escribanos públicos are a separate profession with exclusive competence over conveyancing.