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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
AttributeCubaReviewedUgandaReviewedComorosReviewedHaitiReviewed
Legal familySocialist civil lawMixed (common law and customary law)Mixed French civil law and Islamic lawCivil law
System of governmentOne-party socialist republicUnitary presidential republicFederal presidential republicUnitary semi-presidential republic
ConstitutionConstituciรณn de la Repรบblica de CubaConstitution of the Republic of UgandaConstitution of the Union of the ComorosConstitution de la Rรฉpublique d'Haรฏti
In force since2019199520011987
CapitalHavanaKampalaMoroniPort-au-Prince
Official languagesSpanishEnglish, Swahili, LugandaComorian, Arabic, FrenchFrench, Haitian Creole
CurrencyCuban peso (CUP)Ugandan Shilling (UGX)Comorian franc (KMF)Haitian gourde (HTG)
Population11,200,00048,600,000850,00011,600,000
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.Presidential system with a Prime Minister, a unicameral Parliament, and a judiciary in which the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal (sitting also as the Constitutional Court) and High Court form the superior courts.Federal. Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohรฉli each have a governor and their own assembly with substantial autonomy over local administration, while the Union handles defence, currency, foreign affairs and nationality.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 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.Bills receive three readings with committee scrutiny; certificates of financial implication are required for money bills. The President assents, returns the bill twice with recommendations, or it becomes law if passed a third time by two-thirds.Bills originate with the government or members of the Assembly of the Union, are examined in committee and passed by the Assembly, then promulgated by the President. Matters within island competence are legislated by the island assemblies, and disputes over the boundary between Union and island competence are a standing feature of Comorian constitutional practice.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 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.Fused; an LLB, the Law Development Centre post-graduate diploma and enrolment admit an advocate. The Uganda Law Society is the professional body.A small bar of avocats admitted after French-model legal training, supplemented by qadis who require religious-law qualification for the personal-status jurisdiction; many practitioners train in France or Madagascar.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.