Civil law in Cabo Verde

The Código Civil de Cabo Verde, commonly abbreviated as CCCV, contains the main private-law rules on legal capacity, contracts, property, family relationships, inheritance and liability. Its current framework derives from Decree-Law 47.344/1966, extended to Cabo Verde by Portaria 22.869 in 1967 and reconstituted by Decree-Law 12-C/97. Later amendments are spread across separate instruments. A Comissão Revisora was created in 2025, but the reviewed official sources did not show that a new Civil Code had been enacted. Legal advice should therefore use the current applicable text and the specific procedure rather than relying on an old summary. Civil-status law covers birth, filiation, adoption, marriage, antenuptial agreements and matrimonial property regimes, death, restrictions on parental authority, incapacity and guardianship, absence, presumed death, união de facto and nationality records. It also includes registration of bankruptcy-related status. DGRNI and the civil registries provide these services, with selected certificates and transcriptions available through Gov.cv. A standard birth certificate costs 150 CVE and is valid for six months; a multilingual version costs 1,600 CVE and has the same stated validity. Marriage certificates also have a six-month validity. Transcription of a foreign marriage or divorce and registration of perfilhação, meaning acknowledgment of filiation, generally take about 15 to 20 business days according to the supplied service information. Contracts create private-law obligations when the parties validly agree and must be performed according to their terms and the applicable law. Civil-law rules address formation, performance, default, damages, guarantees, termination and resolution. A contract may require a written, authenticated or notarial form, depending on its subject and the applicable legal rule. Selected public services support electronic acts, but electronic availability does not remove a form requirement that the law imposes for a particular transaction. Property matters distinguish cadastro predial from registo predial. The cadastro predial identifies a rural or urban property physically, economically and legally. The registo predial records rights and transactions and supports their effect against third parties and the presumption of ownership. Registration is a required prerequisite for acts concerning property where the cadastral obligation is effective. INGT and the Conservatórias share relevant functions, and São Vicente was declared cadastrated in 2025. The two systems are therefore connected but are not interchangeable. The available digital immovable-sale workflow uses the seller's CIP, buyer information, seller confirmation, a DUC payment document, payment, mortgage or bank confirmation where applicable, a digital deed, confirmation by the conservador and an updated CIP or averbamento, meaning a registration annotation. The horizontal-property regime was amended by Law 57/X/2025. The exact documents, fees and steps depend on the property, financing, cadastral coverage and current administrative requirements. Inheritance follows the Civil Code's succession and testament rules. DGRNI maintains a central wills register. When a Cabo Verdean dies abroad, recording the death in Cabo Verde requires a valid foreign death certificate, a signed application and the applicant's identification document; the stated processing time is about 15 to 20 business days. Court inventory and heir-entitlement proceedings, known as inventário and habilitação, belong before the court competent at the opening of the succession. If the succession opened abroad and includes immovable property in Cabo Verde, the competent court is generally the one where most of those properties are located; if there are no such immovables, the relevant court is generally determined by the location of most movable property. The available sources do not establish universal heir shares or an order that applies without checking the governing circumstances. Civil liability can arise from failure to perform or defective performance of a contract, or from a wrongful act or another legally recognised risk. A claim for damages normally proceeds through the civil courts. For an obligation claim, venue is connected with the place of performance or the defendant's domicile. For tort or risk liability, venue is connected with the place where the relevant event occurred. Liability connected primarily with a criminal offence, employment relationship or consumer-protection issue may fall within an adjacent legal area instead. The Código do Processo Civil, or CPC, was approved by Decree-Law 7/2010 and entered into force on 1 January 2011; an official consolidated text was available in 2021. Civil jurisdiction depends on the subject matter, judicial hierarchy, territory and claim value. Civil juízos and comarcas hear claims at the relevant level. Appeals go to the Tribunal da Relação de Barlavento or Tribunal da Relação de Sotavento, while the Supremo Tribunal de Justiça is the highest judicial court. Recognition or confirmation of a foreign judgment follows the applicable appellate-court procedure. Protective measures use the court connected with the main action or, where relevant, the location of the assets. Arrest, called arresto, and preservation of assets or evidence through arrolamento generally follow those connecting factors. An embargo concerning new construction is linked to the location of the work, while anticipatory evidence is linked to the location of the evidence. These measures have specific requirements and should not be treated as automatic alternatives to an ordinary claim. Enforcement begins after an enforceable title exists. The CPC framework allows penhora, meaning seizure for enforcement, of immovables, movables and credits, and allows annotation of a registered mortgage where applicable. The enforcement process may lead to judicial sale, adjudication or remission. Deadlines, exemptions, the available assets and the likely completion time depend on the title, procedure, service, court, evidence and any appeal; no universal completion period applies. Arbitration is available as an alternative dispute-resolution method under Lei 108/VIII/2016 when a valid arbitration agreement or statutory basis exists. It does not automatically replace the courts merely because the dispute concerns a contract or damages. Court proceedings and other civil services are subject to the Código das Custas Judiciais, taxes, preparos and emolumentos according to the act, current fee table and any applicable exemption. The supplied information does not establish a universal civil-litigation cost or duration. Constitutional access to justice is supported by the legal-aid framework in Lei 35/III/88, Decreto 99/88 and Decreto Regulamentar 10/2004. Natural and legal persons generally have to demonstrate insufficient means. The request is made separately to the judge of the pending or intended court and may be filed at the court registry in person or by post. DGPJ information identifies an atestado de pobreza and an income declaration among the supporting documents, and reports an applicant fee of 0. A lawyer may be appointed through the Ordem dos Advogados de Cabo Verde, subject to the decision on assistance, which may cover procedural costs and legal fees. Gov.cv offers online certificates, transcriptions and some property services, while DGRNI, Conservatórias, Cartórios Notariais and local comarcas remain operating channels. Portuguese is the dominant language of legal sources, and the English portal layer is partial. The national legal framework is materially uniform, but practical access can differ between islands and comarcas because registry capacity, cadastral implementation and digital availability are not identical.