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.

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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	AustriaReviewed	VanuatuReviewed	KuwaitReviewed
Legal family	Civil law	Mixed common, civil and customary law	Mixed (civil law and Islamic law)
System of government	Federal parliamentary republic	Unitary parliamentary republic	Unitary constitutional monarchy
Constitution	Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz (B-VG)	Constitution of the Republic of Vanuatu	Constitution of the State of Kuwait
In force since	1920	1980	1962
Capital	Vienna	Port Vila	Kuwait City
Official languages	German	Bislama, English, French	Arabic
Currency	Euro (EUR)	Vanuatu vatu (VUV)	Kuwaiti dinar (KWD)
Population	9,100,000	330,000	4,300,000
Division of powers	Nine Länder hold their own constitutions, parliaments and governments, but the federation retains far more legislative power than in Germany or Switzerland; much Länder activity is administering federal law (mittelbare Bundesverwaltung). Three separate high courts sit at the apex, for constitutional, administrative and ordinary matters respectively.	Unitary with decentralised administration. Six provinces — Malampa, Penama, Sanma, Shefa, Tafea and Torba — have councils under the Decentralisation Act with delegated functions. Custom land management is decentralised much further, to area-level Custom Land Tribunals and nakamal-based decision-making under the Custom Land Management Act 2013.	Unitary. Six governorates administered by appointed governors, with no legislative competence.
How law is made	Bills 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.	Bills are read three times in the single chamber and assented to by the President, who may refer a bill to the Supreme Court if he considers it inconsistent with the Constitution. Ordinary bills need a simple majority of members present, with a quorum of two-thirds. Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority of all members; if the amendment touches the status of Bislama, English or French, land, or the republican form of the state, it must also be approved at a national referendum.	Under the constitution as designed, bills passed by the National Assembly required Emiri sanction, and the Emir could return a bill for reconsideration which the Assembly could override by a two-thirds majority. With the Assembly dissolved and the relevant articles suspended since May 2024, legislation is made by Emiri decree on the proposal of the Council of Ministers and published in the Official Gazette (Kuwait Al-Youm).
Legal profession	A 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 Österreichischer Rechtsanwaltskammertag. Notaries are a separate profession with appointments limited in number.	A fused profession regulated by the Legal Practitioners Act: practitioners are admitted by the Chief Justice and licensed by the Law Council. The University of the South Pacific's law school is in Port Vila, so many Pacific lawyers train in Vanuatu. Practitioners may need to work in Bislama, English or French depending on the client and the court file, and the Public Solicitor is a constitutional office rather than a discretionary aid scheme.	Advocacy is reserved to Kuwaiti nationals enrolled with the Ministry of Justice and the Kuwait Bar Association, with foreign lawyers acting as consultants and unable to appear; pleadings are in Arabic. Judges are appointed by the Supreme Judicial Council, and a significant proportion of the bench has historically been seconded from other Arab states. Notarial authentication at the Ministry of Justice is required for powers of attorney, property transfers and company formation documents.

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.