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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
AttributeCubaReviewedHaitiReviewedChadIndexed
Legal familySocialist civil lawCivil lawMixed (French civil law, customary and Islamic law)
System of governmentOne-party socialist republicUnitary semi-presidential republicUnitary presidential republic
ConstitutionConstituciรณn de la Repรบblica de CubaConstitution de la Rรฉpublique d'HaรฏtiConstitution of the Republic of Chad
In force since201919872023
CapitalHavanaPort-au-PrinceN'Djamena
Official languagesSpanishFrench, Haitian CreoleFrench, Arabic
CurrencyCuban peso (CUP)Haitian gourde (HTG)Central African CFA franc (XAF)
Population11,200,00011,600,00018,300,000
Division of powersUnitary, organised on the principle of a single system of state power. The 2019 Constitution and the 2019 territorial reform recognise 15 provinces and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, with provincial governors appointed on the President's nomination.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.Presidential system with a Prime Minister, a bicameral Parliament of National Assembly and Senate under the 2023 text, and a judiciary headed by the Supreme Court.
How law is madeLegislative initiative lies with deputies, the Council of State, the Council of Ministers, the courts, the Prosecutor General, mass organisations and 10,000 citizens by popular initiative. The Assembly meets in short ordinary sessions, so much law is made by decree-law of the Council of State and subsequently ratified. Constitutional amendment requires two-thirds of the Assembly, and a referendum for provisions on the political system or rights.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.Bills are examined in committee and plenary and passed by the legislature, then promulgated by the President. The Constitutional Council may be seised before promulgation.
Legal professionPractising litigators generally work through the Organizaciรณn Nacional de Bufetes Colectivos, a self-financing national body of collective law offices; independent private practice is not a recognised route. Membership of the Uniรณn Nacional de Juristas de Cuba is the professional association. Notarial functions are performed by state notaries.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.Avocats admitted through the Ordre des avocats du Tchad; the profession is concentrated in N'Djamena.

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.