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 | DenmarkReviewed | SpainReviewed | IndonesiaReviewed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal family | Civil law (Nordic) | Civil law | Mixed civil, customary and Islamic law |
| System of government | Constitutional monarchy | Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy | Presidential republic |
| Constitution | Constitutional Act of Denmark (Grundloven) | Spanish Constitution | Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia 1945 |
| In force since | 1953 | 1978 | 1945 |
| Capital | Copenhagen | Madrid | Jakarta |
| Official languages | Danish | Spanish | Indonesian |
| Currency | Danish krone (DKK) | Euro (EUR) | Indonesian rupiah (IDR) |
| Population | 5,900,000 | 48,400,000 | 281,600,000 |
| Division of powers | Parliamentary government in which the cabinet is drawn from and answerable to the Folketing, with an independent unified judiciary. | A constitutional monarchy with the King as head of state, an executive led by the President of the Government, a bicameral parliament and an independent judiciary, overlaid by extensive regional self-government. | Unitary but heavily decentralised since the 1999 regional autonomy laws, which devolved most service delivery to some 500 regencies and cities rather than to the 38 provinces. Aceh, Papua and its successor provinces, Yogyakarta and Jakarta hold special autonomy statuses with distinct arrangements — Aceh includes Sharia jurisdiction and its own political parties; Yogyakarta's governor is hereditary. |
| How law is made | Bills pass three readings in the Folketing and receive royal assent. A minority of members can require certain bills to be put to a referendum. | Bills pass both chambers of the Cortes Generales, with the Congress of Deputies able to override the Senate, and receive royal assent. | Bills may originate with the DPR, the President or the DPD on regional matters, and require the agreement of both the DPR and the President — a genuine joint enactment rather than assent. Once approved the President promulgates; if he does not, the bill becomes law after 30 days. The Constitutional Court may then annul it. The 2020 Job Creation Law was found conditionally unconstitutional for defective process, which forced the enactment of a new law on legislative drafting. |
| Legal profession | A single advokat profession admitted after a law degree, practical training and a bar course; judges are appointed from experienced lawyers. | Abogados belong to local bar associations (colegios de abogados); procuradores represent parties procedurally and notaries authenticate deeds and company acts. | Advocates are admitted under the Advocate Law 2003 after a law degree, a professional course, the bar examination and two years' apprenticeship, then sworn in by a High Court. PERADI is the principal bar association, though the profession has been divided by competing organisations, and the Constitutional Court has held that multiple bars may coexist while a single body administers admission. Notaries are a separate regulated profession with exclusive competence over deeds of incorporation and land transfers. |
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.