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 | HaitiReviewed | IrelandReviewed |
|---|---|---|
| Legal family | Civil law | Common law |
| System of government | Unitary semi-presidential republic | Unitary parliamentary republic |
| Constitution | Constitution de la République d'Haïti | Constitution of Ireland (Bunreacht na hÉireann) |
| In force since | 1987 | 1937 |
| Capital | Port-au-Prince | Dublin |
| Official languages | French, Haitian Creole | Irish, English |
| Currency | Haitian gourde (HTG) | Euro (EUR) |
| Population | 11,600,000 | 5,300,000 |
| 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. | Parliamentary government with a directly elected President as head of state, a bicameral Oireachtas and an independent judiciary with robust constitutional-review powers. |
| 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 pass five stages in each House of the Oireachtas and are signed by the President, who may first refer a bill to the Supreme Court to test its constitutionality. |
| 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 divided profession of solicitors (Law Society) and barristers (King’s Inns and the Bar), with a growing overlap in rights of audience. |
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.