The legal system of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

is a mix of the civil law

Civil law (legal system)

Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are codified into collections, as compared to common law systems that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different...

 and the common law

Common law

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

 systems.

United States Code

Title 48 of the United States Code

Title 48 of the United States Code

Title 48 of the United States Code outlines the role of United States territories and insular areas in the United States Code.-External links:*, via United States Government Printing Office*, via Cornell University...

 outlines the role of the United States Code to United States territories and insular areas such as Puerto Rico.

Leyes de Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rico Code (Leyes de Puerto Rico) is modeled on the Spanish Civil Code, which is part of the Law of Spain

Law of Spain

The Law of Spain is the term used to describe the legislation which is in force in the Kingdom of Spain, which is understood to mean Spanish territory, Spanish waters, consulates and embassies, and ships flying the Spanish flag in international waters. It is also applicable to the Spanish armed...

.

Judicial system

The judicial branch is headed by the Chief Justice

Chief Justice

The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...

 of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, which is the only appellate court required by the Constitution. All other courts are created by the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico

Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico

The Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico is the territorial legislature of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The structure and responsibilities of the Legislative Assembly are defined in Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico....

.

As Puerto Rico is under United States sovereignty, there is also a Federal District Court

United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico

The United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The court is based in San Juan. The main building is the Clemente Ruiz Nazario U.S. Courthouse located in the Hato Rey district of San Juan...

 for the island.

See also

• Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
• Puerto Rico Tax and Customs Laws

External links

• Puerto Rico Resources, Georgetown Law Library
• Laws of Puerto Rico, Lexis Nexis (Spanish)
• The Laws of Puerto Rico, and other downloads, Office of Legislative Services to the Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly
• Guide to Law Online: U.S. Puerto Rico, Library of Congress
  Library of Congress
  The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...