Comparison

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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	SamoaReviewed	NamibiaReviewed
Legal family	Civil law (French tradition)	Common law with customary law	Mixed Roman-Dutch and English common law
System of government	Unitary presidential republic	Unitary parliamentary republic	Semi-presidential republic
Constitution	Constitution of the Gabonese Republic	Constitution of the Independent State of Samoa	Constitution of the Republic of Namibia
In force since	2024	1962	1990
Capital	Libreville	Apia	Windhoek
Official languages	French	Samoan, English	English
Currency	Central African CFA franc (XAF)	Samoan tālā (WST)	Namibian dollar (NAD)
Population	2,500,000	220,000	2,600,000
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. Parliament legislates for the whole country. Below it, about 250 villages govern themselves through the village fono (council of matai) under the Village Fono Act 1990, which gives customary village authority statutory recognition — a genuine layer of local government rather than a delegation of central power.	Unitary with 14 administrative regions and elected regional councils, which also constitute the National Council, the upper chamber. Traditional authorities exercise recognised functions over communal land and customary law.
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 read three times in the Legislative Assembly, usually with parliamentary committee scrutiny, and are then assented to by the O le Ao o le Malo. Ordinary bills need a simple majority. Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority of all members at the third reading, and any amendment affecting customary land or matai titles is politically entrenched by the strength of the fa'a Samoa consensus even where the two-thirds threshold is met.	Bills pass the National Assembly through three readings, then go to the National Council for review. The Council may confirm, propose amendments, or object; the Assembly can override an objection by a two-thirds majority. The President then assents, and constitutional amendments require two-thirds of both chambers and may never diminish the rights chapter.
Legal profession	Avocats admitted through the Ordre des avocats du Gabon; notaires and huissiers are separate regulated professions.	A fused profession under the Lawyers and Legal Practice Act 2014: lawyers are admitted by the Supreme Court and must hold a practising certificate from the Samoa Law Society. Most qualify at the University of the South Pacific or in New Zealand. Practice before the Land and Titles Court is different in character from ordinary litigation, because the issues are matai genealogy and customary entitlement rather than statutory or common-law rights.	A fused profession under the Legal Practitioners Act: a single class of legal practitioner is admitted after a law degree and the Justice Training Centre's postgraduate course, and the Law Society of Namibia regulates practice.

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.