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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| Attribute | IsraelReviewed | BrazilReviewed |
|---|---|---|
| Legal family | Mixed common law and civil law | Civil law |
| System of government | Unitary parliamentary republic | Federal presidential republic |
| Constitution | Basic Laws of the State of Israel | Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil |
| In force since | 1958 | 1988 |
| Capital | Jerusalem | Brasília |
| Official languages | Hebrew, Arabic | Portuguese |
| Currency | New shekel (ILS) | Brazilian Real (BRL) |
| Population | 9,800,000 | 217,000,000 |
| Division of powers | Unitary, with municipalities and regional councils exercising delegated powers. Different legal regimes apply in the West Bank, where military orders and Jordanian-derived law operate alongside Israeli law applied personally to settlers, and the atlas records that separately under Palestine rather than folding it into this entry. | Presidentialism with a bicameral Congress and an assertive judiciary; the STF hears direct actions of unconstitutionality brought by defined institutional applicants. |
| How law is made | A bill passes a preliminary reading, committee stage and three readings in the Knesset. There is no upper chamber and no presidential veto, so a bare majority of those voting can enact primary legislation and, in most cases, amend a Basic Law. The Attorney General's opinion on legality is treated as binding on government, which makes that office a significant pre-enactment check in the absence of a second chamber. | Bills pass both chambers, with the initiating chamber reviewing amendments; the President may veto in whole or part, and Congress may override in joint session. |
| Legal profession | A single fused profession of advocates admitted by the Israel Bar Association, which is a statutory body: membership is compulsory and it controls the bar examinations and the mandatory articles year. Israel has one of the highest ratios of lawyers to population in the world. Notarial functions are performed by senior advocates licensed as notaries rather than by a separate notariat, which distinguishes the system from its civil-law neighbours. | Law graduates must pass the OAB examination; membership of the Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil is mandatory to practise. |
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.