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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Comparison of selected legal systems
Attribute	BruneiReviewed	MoldovaReviewed
Legal family	Mixed common law and Islamic law	Civil law
System of government	Absolute monarchy	Unitary parliamentary republic
Constitution	Constitution of Brunei Darussalam	Constitution of the Republic of Moldova
In force since	1959	1994
Capital	Bandar Seri Begawan	Chișinău
Official languages	Malay, English	Romanian
Currency	Brunei dollar (BND)	Moldovan leu (MDL)
Population	450,000	2,400,000
Division of powers	Unitary, with four districts administered by district officers reporting to the Ministry of Home Affairs. No federal or devolved tier; village and mukim headmen have recognised consultative functions.	Parliamentary, though the President has been directly elected since 2016; the Constitutional Court arbitrates between the two.
How law is made	In form, bills are introduced in the Legislative Council and assented to by the Sultan. In practice the significant instruments are Orders made by the Sultan under the emergency proclamation, which take effect on publication in the Government Gazette without Council passage. The Syariah Penal Code Order 2013 was enacted this way.	Bills are adopted by Parliament, usually in two readings, and promulgated by the President, who may return a bill once for reconsideration. Publication in Monitorul Oficial is a condition of entry into force.
Legal profession	Advocates and solicitors are admitted by the High Court under the Legal Profession Act, generally after qualifying in England, Malaysia, Singapore or Australia and completing local requirements. The profession is small — a few hundred practitioners — and foreign counsel may be admitted ad hoc for particular cases. Syariah practice is a separate track: Syariah lawyers are certified under the Syariah Courts Act and appear only in the Syariah hierarchy, so a matter that crosses both systems needs two sets of representation.	Lawyers are licensed by the Union of Advocates after examination and traineeship; notaries, bailiffs and authorised administrators are separate licensed professions.

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.