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 | GhanaReviewed | South SudanIndexed |
|---|---|---|
| Legal family | Mixed (common law and customary law) | Common law with customary law |
| System of government | Unitary presidential republic | Transitional government of national unity |
| Constitution | Constitution of the Republic of Ghana | Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan |
| In force since | 1992 | 2011 |
| Capital | Accra | Juba |
| Official languages | English, Akan, Ewe, Dagbani | English, Arabic, Dinka, Nuer |
| Currency | Ghanaian Cedi (GHS) | South Sudanese pound (SSP) |
| Population | 34,100,000 | 11,100,000 |
| Division of powers | Executive president with a Cabinet drawn substantially from Parliament, a unicameral legislature, and a judiciary whose independence is protected by security of tenure and a charged-on-consolidated-fund salary. | Decentralised in form, with states and administrative areas whose number has changed repeatedly — from ten at independence to twenty-eight, then thirty-two, and back to ten plus administrative areas under the 2018 agreement. Local government includes county and payam tiers and statutory customary authorities. |
| How law is made | A bill is gazetted, read three times, considered by committee and passed by simple majority. Bills with financial implications need presidential consent to be introduced. The President assents; refusal returns the bill with reasons. | Bills are introduced by ministers or members, considered in committee and passed by the Transitional National Legislative Assembly, with the Council of States participating on matters affecting the states. The President assents. Because the legislature is constituted by power-sharing quota rather than election, and because several key bills including the permanent constitutional process have stalled, the process is transitional rather than settled. |
| Legal profession | Fused: an LLB, the Ghana School of Law professional course and enrolment admit a lawyer who may both solicit and advocate. | Advocates are admitted through the Ministry of Justice and represented by the South Sudan Bar Association, and the profession is small relative to need, with many practitioners trained in Uganda, Kenya or Sudan. Judicial numbers are low and vacancies persistent, which is a large part of why customary courts carry most of the dispute-resolution load. |
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.