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Comparison

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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.

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Comparison of selected legal systems
AttributeAustriaReviewedCanadaReviewedIndonesiaReviewed
Legal familyCivil lawBijural: common law and Quรฉbec civil lawMixed civil, customary and Islamic law
System of governmentFederal parliamentary republicFederal parliamentary constitutional monarchyPresidential republic
ConstitutionBundes-Verfassungsgesetz (B-VG)Constitution Acts, 1867 and 1982Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia 1945
In force since192019821945
CapitalViennaOttawaJakarta
Official languagesGermanEnglish, FrenchIndonesian
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Canadian Dollar (CAD)Indonesian rupiah (IDR)
Population9,100,00041,200,000281,600,000
Division of powersNine Lรคnder hold their own constitutions, parliaments and governments, but the federation retains far more legislative power than in Germany or Switzerland; much Lรคnder activity is administering federal law (mittelbare Bundesverwaltung). Three separate high courts sit at the apex, for constitutional, administrative and ordinary matters respectively.Sections 91 and 92 divide federal and provincial competence. Section 33 allows a legislature to override certain Charter rights for renewable five-year periods.Unitary but heavily decentralised since the 1999 regional autonomy laws, which devolved most service delivery to some 500 regencies and cities rather than to the 38 provinces. Aceh, Papua and its successor provinces, Yogyakarta and Jakarta hold special autonomy statuses with distinct arrangements โ€” Aceh includes Sharia jurisdiction and its own political parties; Yogyakarta's governor is hereditary.
How law is madeBills originate with the government, members of the Nationalrat, the Bundesrat or a popular initiative, and pass three readings in the Nationalrat. The Bundesrat may object but can normally be overridden. The Federal President authenticates the law, the Chancellor countersigns, and it is published in the Bundesgesetzblatt.Three readings plus committee study in each chamber, then Royal Assent. Money bills must originate in the Commons.Bills may originate with the DPR, the President or the DPD on regional matters, and require the agreement of both the DPR and the President โ€” a genuine joint enactment rather than assent. Once approved the President promulgates; if he does not, the bill becomes law after 30 days. The Constitutional Court may then annul it. The 2020 Job Creation Law was found conditionally unconstitutional for defective process, which forced the enactment of a new law on legislative drafting.
Legal professionA Rechtsanwalt qualifies through a law degree, five years of practical training including at least three in a law firm and some months at court, and the bar examination. Admission is via the regional bar chambers under the umbrella of the ร–sterreichischer Rechtsanwaltskammertag. Notaries are a separate profession with appointments limited in number.Provincial law societies regulate admission: an accredited degree, articles, and bar admission courses. Quรฉbec has separate avocat and notaire professions.Advocates are admitted under the Advocate Law 2003 after a law degree, a professional course, the bar examination and two years' apprenticeship, then sworn in by a High Court. PERADI is the principal bar association, though the profession has been divided by competing organisations, and the Constitutional Court has held that multiple bars may coexist while a single body administers admission. Notaries are a separate regulated profession with exclusive competence over deeds of incorporation and land transfers.

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 โ€” the constitutional detail behind a one-line summary is often the part that governs the outcome.