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	HaitiReviewed	DjiboutiReviewed
Legal family	Civil law	Civil law with Islamic and customary personal status
System of government	Unitary semi-presidential republic	Semi-presidential republic
Constitution	Constitution de la République d'Haïti	Constitution of the Republic of Djibouti
In force since	1987	1992
Capital	Port-au-Prince	Djibouti
Official languages	French, Haitian Creole	Arabic, French, Somali, Afar
Currency	Haitian gourde (HTG)	Djiboutian franc (DJF)
Population	11,600,000	1,140,000
Division of powers	Unitary with constitutionally recognised decentralisation to 10 departments, arrondissements and communes, and to the communal section as the smallest territorial unit. In practice the elected local bodies are largely unfilled and replaced by appointed interim commissions.	Unitary, with five regions and the capital district. Regional councils were introduced by the decentralisation laws of 2002 and hold limited local competences; there is no legislative devolution.
How law is made	Under the 1987 Constitution bills pass both chambers and are promulgated by the President, who may return a text once for reconsideration. With Parliament not sitting, measures have been issued as executive decrees since 2020 — a practice widely criticised as lacking constitutional foundation, and a key reason to check the current status of any recent instrument before relying on it.	Bills originate with the government or with deputies, are examined in committee and adopted by the National Assembly. Organic laws require referral to the Constitutional Council before promulgation. The President promulgates within fifteen days and may request a second deliberation. The government may legislate by ordinance under an enabling statute, subject to later ratification.
Legal profession	Advocates are admitted to one of the departmental bars (Ordre des avocats), most prominently the Port-au-Prince bar, after a law degree and a period of pupillage. Notaries hold a separate public office with exclusive competence over authentic acts including land transfers, which matters greatly given widespread informality in land title.	A small avocat profession organised in a single bar in the capital, admitted on the French model after a law degree and professional training, frequently completed abroad. Notaries handle conveyancing and company formation. Judges are career appointments, and the limited size of the profession means many practitioners move between bench, bar and government service.

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.