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 | Equatorial GuineaIndexed | UgandaReviewed | MexicoReviewed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal family | Civil law (Spanish tradition) | Mixed (common law and customary law) | Civil law |
| System of government | Unitary presidential republic | Unitary presidential republic | Federal presidential republic |
| Constitution | Fundamental Law of Equatorial Guinea | Constitution of the Republic of Uganda | Political Constitution of the United Mexican States |
| In force since | 1991 | 1995 | 1917 |
| Capital | Malabo | Kampala | Mexico City |
| Official languages | Spanish, French, Portuguese | English, Swahili, Luganda | Spanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya |
| Currency | Central African CFA franc (XAF) | Ugandan Shilling (UGX) | Mexican peso (MXN) |
| Population | 1,700,000 | 48,600,000 | 130,000,000 |
| Division of powers | Presidential system with a Vice-President and Prime Minister, a bicameral Parliament of Chamber of Deputies and Senate, and a judiciary headed by the Supreme Court of Justice. | 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. Powers not expressly granted to the union are reserved to the 32 states (Article 124). States run their own civil, family and criminal-enforcement codes, but criminal procedure, labour and commercial law were federalised to produce single national codes. |
| How law is made | Bills pass the Chamber of Deputies and Senate and are promulgated by the President, who may return a text for reconsideration. | 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 may be introduced by the President, either chamber, state legislatures or by citizens with 0.13% of the electoral roll. Both chambers must pass an identical text; the President may veto, and Congress overrides with two-thirds of each chamber. Constitutional amendments need two-thirds of Congress plus a majority of state legislatures (Article 135). |
| Legal profession | Abogados admitted through the Ilustre Colegio de Abogados; practice requires competence in both Spanish codes and French-language OHADA texts. | Fused; an LLB, the Law Development Centre post-graduate diploma and enrolment admit an advocate. The Uganda Law Society is the professional body. | A law degree plus a cédula profesional from the Education Ministry licenses practice; there is no compulsory bar examination or single mandatory bar, which distinguishes Mexico from most of the region. Notaries public are a separate, strictly limited state-appointed profession with exclusive competence over real estate and company deeds. |
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.