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
Attribute	FijiReviewed	CanadaReviewed	TongaReviewed
Legal family	Common law with customary law	Bijural: common law and Québec civil law	Common law with customary law
System of government	Unitary parliamentary republic	Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy	Constitutional monarchy
Constitution	Constitution of the Republic of Fiji	Constitution Acts, 1867 and 1982	Act of Constitution of Tonga
In force since	2013	1982	1875
Capital	Suva	Ottawa	Nuku'alofa
Official languages	English, Fijian, Fiji Hindi	English, French	Tongan, English
Currency	Fijian dollar (FJD)	Canadian Dollar (CAD)	Tongan paʻanga (TOP)
Population	930,000	41,200,000	105,000
Division of powers	Unitary and deliberately centralised. Section 1 declares Fiji a sovereign state whose Parliament legislates for the whole country; there are no provinces with legislative power. The 14 provincial councils and the iTaukei Affairs Board administer indigenous affairs under the iTaukei Affairs Act. Rotuma has a distinct status under the Rotuma Act.	Sections 91 and 92 divide federal and provincial competence. Section 33 allows a legislature to override certain Charter rights for renewable five-year periods.	Unitary. The Legislative Assembly legislates for the whole kingdom, and the island divisions of Tongatapu, Vava'u, Ha'apai, 'Eua and the Niuas are administrative districts headed by governors. Below that, town and district officers are elected under the Fakafekau'aki and District and Town Officers Act.
How law is made	Bills are introduced in the unicameral Parliament, referred to a standing committee, and pass through second reading, committee and third reading before assent by the President. There is no upper house. A constitutional amendment requires the support of three-quarters of all members of Parliament and then approval by three-quarters of registered voters at a referendum, a threshold that has never been met.	Three readings plus committee study in each chamber, then Royal Assent. Money bills must originate in the Commons.	Bills pass three readings in the Legislative Assembly and require the King's assent, which is a real rather than purely formal step. Ordinary bills need a simple majority. Amendments to the Constitution require a majority in the Assembly at three separate readings and the consent of the King and Privy Council, and clause 79 forbids any amendment affecting the law of liberty, the succession to the throne or the titles and hereditary estates of the nobles.
Legal profession	A fused profession under the Legal Practitioners Act 2009: practitioners are admitted by the Chief Justice as barristers and solicitors. Most qualify through the University of the South Pacific law degree followed by the Professional Diploma in Legal Practice. Admission and discipline are handled by the Chief Registrar and the Independent Legal Services Commission rather than by the Fiji Law Society, which is a voluntary professional body.	Provincial law societies regulate admission: an accredited degree, articles, and bar admission courses. Québec has separate avocat and notaire professions.	Law practitioners are admitted by the Chief Justice and licensed under the Law Practitioners Act, with the Tonga Law Society as the professional body. Most qualify overseas or at the University of the South Pacific. A practitioner working on land must know the Land Act's allotment system rather than general property law, because the constitutional bar on selling land means conveyancing in the ordinary sense does not exist.

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.