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
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| Attribute | BrazilReviewed | HaitiReviewed |
|---|---|---|
| Legal familyIdentical | Civil law | Civil law |
| System of government | Federal presidential republic | Unitary semi-presidential republic |
| Constitution | Constituiรงรฃo da Repรบblica Federativa do Brasil | Constitution de la Rรฉpublique d'Haรฏti |
| In force since | 1988 | 1987 |
| Capital | Brasรญlia | Port-au-Prince |
| Official languages | Portuguese | French, Haitian Creole |
| Currency | Brazilian Real (BRL) | Haitian gourde (HTG) |
| Population | 217,000,000 | 11,600,000 |
| Division of powers | Presidentialism with a bicameral Congress and an assertive judiciary; the STF hears direct actions of unconstitutionality brought by defined institutional applicants. | Unitary with constitutionally recognised decentralisation to 10 departments, arrondissements and communes, and to the communal section as the smallest territorial unit. In practice the elected local bodies are largely unfilled and replaced by appointed interim commissions. |
| How law is made | Bills pass both chambers, with the initiating chamber reviewing amendments; the President may veto in whole or part, and Congress may override in joint session. | Under the 1987 Constitution bills pass both chambers and are promulgated by the President, who may return a text once for reconsideration. With Parliament not sitting, measures have been issued as executive decrees since 2020 โ a practice widely criticised as lacking constitutional foundation, and a key reason to check the current status of any recent instrument before relying on it. |
| Legal profession | Law graduates must pass the OAB examination; membership of the Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil is mandatory to practise. | Advocates are admitted to one of the departmental bars (Ordre des avocats), most prominently the Port-au-Prince bar, after a law degree and a period of pupillage. Notaries hold a separate public office with exclusive competence over authentic acts including land transfers, which matters greatly given widespread informality in land title. |
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.