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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| Attribute | Equatorial GuineaIndexed | ZambiaReviewed |
|---|---|---|
| Legal family | Civil law (Spanish tradition) | English common law with customary law |
| System of government | Unitary presidential republic | Presidential republic |
| Constitution | Fundamental Law of Equatorial Guinea | Constitution of Zambia |
| In force sinceIdentical | 1991 | 1991 |
| Capital | Malabo | Lusaka |
| Official languages | Spanish, French, Portuguese | English |
| Currency | Central African CFA franc (XAF) | Zambian kwacha (ZMW) |
| Population | 1,700,000 | 20,600,000 |
| 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. | Unitary with ten provinces and decentralised district councils. Chiefs administer customary land through the House of Chiefs, which advises on matters of custom and tradition. |
| 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 are published in the Gazette, read three times in the National Assembly with committee scrutiny, and presented for presidential assent. Constitutional amendments require two-thirds of the membership, and amendments touching the bill of rights or the sovereignty provisions additionally require a national referendum — the reason several attempted rights reforms have stalled. |
| Legal profession | Abogados admitted through the Ilustre Colegio de Abogados; practice requires competence in both Spanish codes and French-language OHADA texts. | A fused profession of practitioners admitted after a law degree and the Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education programme, regulated by the Law Association of Zambia; senior practitioners may be appointed State Counsel. |
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.