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 | GabonIndexed | LesothoReviewed | MadagascarReviewed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal family | Civil law (French tradition) | Mixed Roman-Dutch and English common law | French civil law with customary law |
| System of government | Unitary presidential republic | Parliamentary constitutional monarchy | Semi-presidential republic |
| Constitution | Constitution of the Gabonese Republic | Constitution of Lesotho | Constitution of the Fourth Republic |
| In force since | 2024 | 1993 | 2010 |
| Capital | Libreville | Maseru | Antananarivo |
| Official languages | French | Sesotho, English | Malagasy, French |
| Currency | Central African CFA franc (XAF) | Lesotho loti (LSL) | Malagasy ariary (MGA) |
| Population | 2,500,000 | 2,300,000 | 30,300,000 |
| 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 with ten districts, and a recognised hierarchy of chiefs exercising customary functions over land allocation and local dispute resolution. The Senate includes the twenty-two principal chiefs ex officio. | Unitary with a decentralised structure of 23 regions and communes. Successive constitutions have promised fuller decentralisation, including provincial autonomy, which has not been implemented. |
| 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 pass three readings in the National Assembly, go to the Senate for review, and receive royal assent. The Senate can delay but not indefinitely block ordinary bills. Amendments to entrenched constitutional provisions require a two-thirds majority and, for the most protected clauses, a referendum. | Bills originate with the government or members of either chamber, are examined in committee, and must pass both the National Assembly and the Senate; the Assembly prevails on disagreement. The Haute Cour Constitutionnelle may review a law before promulgation, and organic laws must be referred to it as a matter of course. |
| Legal profession | Avocats admitted through the Ordre des avocats du Gabon; notaires and huissiers are separate regulated professions. | A split profession in form — advocates and attorneys are separately admitted under the Legal Practitioners Act — though in practice many practitioners hold both admissions; the Law Society of Lesotho regulates the attorneys' branch. | Avocats admitted to the Ordre des avocats de Madagascar after a law degree and professional training, alongside notaires for authenticated instruments and huissiers for service and enforcement — the standard French division of functions. |
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.