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	MicronesiaReviewed	NigerIndexed
Legal family	Common law with customary law	Mixed common law with customary law	Civil law (French tradition)
System of government	Unitary parliamentary republic	Federal republic in free association with the United States	Republic under military-led government
Constitution	Constitution of the Republic of Fiji	Constitution of the Federated States of Micronesia	Constitution of the Seventh Republic (suspended)
In force since	2013	1979	2010
Capital	Suva	Palikir	Niamey
Official languages	English, Fijian, Fiji Hindi	English, Chuukese, Pohnpeian, Yapese, Kosraean	French, Hausa, Zarma
Currency	Fijian dollar (FJD)	United States dollar (USD)	West African CFA franc (XOF)
Population	930,000	115,000	26,200,000
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.	Genuine federalism. The national government holds foreign affairs, defence, immigration, currency and interstate commerce; everything else, including land tenure, is state or local. Each state has its own constitution and supreme court, and Yap's constitution creates Councils of Pilung and Tamol — traditional leaders' councils with power to disapprove state legislation affecting tradition and custom.	Under the suspended constitution, a semi-presidential system with a President, Prime Minister and National Assembly. Currently executive and legislative authority is concentrated in the CNSP and an appointed government.
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.	Bills pass Congress and are signed by the President, who has a veto that Congress may override. Because the four at-large senators serve longer terms and are the pool from which the President is drawn, national politics is structured around balancing the states rather than around parties — there are no formal political parties. Constitutional amendments may be proposed by Congress, by a convention, or by popular initiative, and require ratification by three-quarters of the voters in three of the four states.	Legislation is currently made by order of the governing authority and published in the Journal Officiel. The suspended constitution provided for ordinary parliamentary passage and presidential promulgation.
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.	Admission is to the FSM Supreme Court, with rules that recognise foreign qualifications, so many practitioners trained in the United States. A distinctive feature is the trial counselor: a non-lawyer licensed to appear in certain courts after examination, which is how most representation is delivered outside the main centres. Practitioners must often hold admission both nationally and in the relevant state.	Avocats admitted through the Barreau du Niger after a law degree and traineeship; notaires and huissiers are separate offices.

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.