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	GabonIndexed	BotswanaReviewed	NauruReviewed
Legal family	Civil law (French tradition)	Mixed Roman-Dutch and English common law	Common law with customary law
System of government	Unitary presidential republic	Parliamentary republic	Parliamentary republic
Constitution	Constitution of the Gabonese Republic	Constitution of Botswana	Constitution of Nauru
In force since	2024	1966	1968
Capital	Libreville	Gaborone	Yaren (seat of government)
Official languages	French	English, Setswana	Nauruan, English
Currency	Central African CFA franc (XAF)	Botswana pula (BWP)	Australian dollar (AUD)
Population	2,500,000	2,680,000	12,500
Division of powers	Presidential system under the 2024 constitution, with a bicameral Parliament of National Assembly and Senate and a judiciary headed by the Court of Cassation, Council of State and Constitutional Court.	Unitary. Districts and sub-districts administer central policy, and the House of Chiefs (Ntlo ya Dikgosi) is an advisory chamber that must be consulted on bills affecting customary law, tribal organisation and tribal property.	Unitary and highly centralised — Nauru has no second tier of general government. The Nauru Island Council was abolished in 1999, so the state deals directly with citizens, though the 14 districts remain the basis for parliamentary constituencies and the twelve tribes retain social significance in land and title questions.
How law is made	Bills pass committee and plenary in both chambers and are promulgated by the President. The Constitutional Court may review a text before promulgation on referral.	Bills are introduced in the National Assembly, take three readings with committee scrutiny between the second and third, and go to the President for assent. Bills affecting customary law, tribal property or the organisation of the tribes must first be referred to the Ntlo ya Dikgosi for its opinion, though that opinion does not bind the Assembly.	Bills receive three readings in the 19-member chamber and are assented to by the President. Ordinary legislation needs a simple majority, but the entrenched provisions of Part XI require a two-thirds majority and, for the most protected articles, approval at a referendum — the barrier that defeated the 2010 reform proposals.
Legal profession	Avocats admitted through the Ordre des avocats du Gabon; notaires and huissiers are separate regulated professions.	A fused profession of attorneys admitted by the High Court after a recognised law degree and articles of pupillage; there is no split between advocates and attorneys, and the Law Society of Botswana regulates practice.	A very small fused profession admitted by the Supreme Court under the Legal Practitioners Act 1973, supplemented by pleaders — non-lawyers licensed to appear in the District Court and before the Lands Committee, a practical necessity given the number of resident lawyers. Judicial officers are frequently appointed from Australia, New Zealand or elsewhere in the Pacific.

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.