Comparison

Read two legal systems against each other

Because every portal follows the same fifteen-section outline, the comparison is genuinely like-for-like rather than a collage of whatever each government happens to publish.

Select up to six documented jurisdictions

Clear selection

Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia DR Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Holy See (Vatican City)Honduras Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Ivory Coast Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria São Tomé and Príncipe Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand The Bahamas Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe

Comparison of selected legal systems
Attribute	AfghanistanReviewed	GermanyReviewed
Legal family	Islamic law	Civil law
System of government	Taliban administration; no promulgated constitution	Federal parliamentary republic
Constitution	No constitution in force; 2004 Constitution suspended in practice	Grundgesetz (Basic Law)
In force since	2004	1949
Capital	Kabul	Berlin
Official languages	Pashto, Dari	German
Currency	Afghan afghani (AFN)	Euro (EUR)
Population	42,200,000	84,400,000
Division of powers	Centralised. 34 provinces are administered by appointed governors reporting to the central administration, with authority concentrated in the Amir and the leadership based in Kandahar. Elected provincial and district councils established under the 2004 Constitution no longer function.	Rechtsstaat separation of powers with an unusually strong Federal Constitutional Court that can annul statutes and hear individual constitutional complaints.
How law is made	There is no legislature in session and no published bill procedure. Rules take effect through decrees and ministerial instructions attributed to the Amir or the cabinet, publicised by announcement rather than through a functioning official gazette process.	Bills originate with the government, Bundestag or Bundesrat, pass three readings in the Bundestag, then require Bundesrat consent or non-objection; a mediation committee resolves deadlock.
Legal profession	The Afghanistan Independent Bar Association, established in 2008 and which had licensed several thousand advocates including many women, was taken over by the Ministry of Justice in November 2021 and its independent regulatory role ended. Licensing now runs through the ministry. Many practitioners have left the country or ceased practice, and women's ability to appear as advocates or to work as judges has been curtailed.	Two state examinations plus a two-year Referendariat produce the unified jurist qualified as Rechtsanwalt, judge, prosecutor or notary.

A comparison table flattens nuance by design. Where a difference matters to a decision you are making, open both portals and read the section in full — the constitutional detail behind a one-line summary is often the part that governs the outcome.