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	GermanyReviewed
Legal familyIdentical	Civil law	Civil law
System of government	Unitary semi-presidential republic	Federal parliamentary republic
Constitution	Constitution de la République d'Haïti	Grundgesetz (Basic Law)
In force since	1987	1949
Capital	Port-au-Prince	Berlin
Official languages	French, Haitian Creole	German
Currency	Haitian gourde (HTG)	Euro (EUR)
Population	11,600,000	84,400,000
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.	Rechtsstaat separation of powers with an unusually strong Federal Constitutional Court that can annul statutes and hear individual constitutional complaints.
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, Bundestag or Bundesrat, pass three readings in the Bundestag, then require Bundesrat consent or non-objection; a mediation committee resolves deadlock.
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.	Two state examinations plus a two-year Referendariat produce the unified jurist qualified as Rechtsanwalt, judge, prosecutor or notary.

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.