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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
AttributeBoliviaReviewedUruguayReviewedMexicoReviewed
Legal familyCivil law with indigenous jurisdictionCivil lawCivil law
System of governmentUnitary presidential republicUnitary presidential republicFederal presidential republic
ConstitutionPolitical Constitution of the Plurinational State of BoliviaConstitution of the Oriental Republic of UruguayPolitical Constitution of the United Mexican States
In force since200919671917
CapitalSucreMontevideoMexico City
Official languagesSpanish, Quechua, Aymara, GuaranรญSpanishSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyBolivian boliviano (BOB)Uruguayan peso (UYU)Mexican peso (MXN)
Population12,400,0003,400,000130,000,000
Division of powersUnitary with autonomies. Nine departments, municipalities, regions and indigenous territories each have elected assemblies and defined legislative competence under the Framework Law of Autonomies, which makes Bolivia substantially more decentralised than its unitary label suggests.Unitary. Nineteen departments have elected intendentes and juntas with administrative and local taxing competence, and municipalities were added in 2010, but all legislative power belongs to the General Assembly.Federal. Powers not expressly granted to the union are reserved to the 32 states (Article 124). States run their own civil, family and criminal-enforcement codes, but criminal procedure, labour and commercial law were federalised to produce single national codes.
How law is madeBills reach the Assembly from members, the executive, citizens or indigenous nations, and must pass both chambers. The President may observe a bill, and the Assembly insists by two-thirds. Total constitutional reform requires a constituent assembly activated by referendum; partial reform needs a two-thirds Assembly vote confirmed by referendum.Bills pass both chambers; disagreement is resolved by the General Assembly sitting jointly. The executive may veto, overcome by three-fifths of the joint assembly. Distinctively, 25% of registered voters can force a referendum to repeal a statute within one year of promulgation, and 10% can initiate a constitutional plebiscite.Bills may be introduced by the President, either chamber, state legislatures or by citizens with 0.13% of the electoral roll. Both chambers must pass an identical text; the President may veto, and Congress overrides with two-thirds of each chamber. Constitutional amendments need two-thirds of Congress plus a majority of state legislatures (Article 135).
Legal professionA law degree plus a national registration with the Ministry of Justice and membership of a departmental colegio de abogados. Practitioners in indigenous jurisdiction are not lawyers: those proceedings are conducted by the community's own authorities under its own norms, and a state lawyer has no right of audience there.A degree from the Universidad de la Repรบblica or an accredited private faculty confers the title of abogado, with registration by the Supreme Court. Membership of the Colegio de Abogados del Uruguay is voluntary; the Supreme Court exercises discipline. Escribanos pรบblicos are a separate profession with exclusive competence over conveyancing.A law degree plus a cรฉdula profesional from the Education Ministry licenses practice; there is no compulsory bar examination or single mandatory bar, which distinguishes Mexico from most of the region. Notaries public are a separate, strictly limited state-appointed profession with exclusive competence over real estate and company deeds.

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.