Comparison

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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	LesothoReviewed	Holy See (Vatican City)Reviewed	MonacoReviewed
Legal family	Mixed Roman-Dutch and English common law	Canon law and civil law	Civil law
System of government	Parliamentary constitutional monarchy	Ecclesiastical elective absolute monarchy	Constitutional hereditary monarchy
Constitution	Constitution of Lesotho	Fundamental Law of Vatican City State	Constitution of the Principality of Monaco
In force since	1993	2023	1962
Capital	Maseru	Vatican City	Monaco
Official languages	Sesotho, English	Italian, Latin	French
Currency	Lesotho loti (LSL)	Euro (EUR)	Euro (EUR)
Population	2,300,000	800	39,000
Division of powers	Unitary with ten districts, and a recognised hierarchy of chiefs exercising customary functions over land allocation and local dispute resolution. The Senate includes the twenty-two principal chiefs ex officio.	Power is concentrated in the Supreme Pontiff, exercised through the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State (legislative), the Governorate (executive) and the Vatican tribunals (judicial).	A unitary state of about two square kilometres with a single commune. Legislative power is exercised jointly by the Prince and the National Council; executive power belongs to the Prince, exercised through the Minister of State and the Government Council; judicial power is delegated by the Prince to the courts, with the Tribunal Suprême acting as both constitutional and supreme administrative court.
How law is made	Bills pass three readings in the National Assembly, go to the Senate for review, and receive royal assent. The Senate can delay but not indefinitely block ordinary bills. Amendments to entrenched constitutional provisions require a two-thirds majority and, for the most protected clauses, a referendum.	Laws are prepared by the Pontifical Commission and take effect with the Pope’s approval, published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis supplement.	A bill may be initiated by the Prince or proposed by the National Council. Government bills are laid before the Council, examined in committee and voted; adoption requires the agreement of both the Prince and the Council. The Prince then promulgates the law by sovereign ordinance and it is published in the Journal de Monaco.
Legal profession	A split profession in form — advocates and attorneys are separately admitted under the Legal Practitioners Act — though in practice many practitioners hold both admissions; the Law Society of Lesotho regulates the attorneys' branch.	Advocates are enrolled with the Vatican tribunals; canon lawyers (canonists) practise before ecclesiastical courts.	A small bar of avocats-défenseurs, avocats and avocats stagiaires, organised as the Ordre des Avocats, with admission requiring Monegasque nationality preference, a law degree and a traineeship. French avocats may appear in specified circumstances. Notaries are appointed by sovereign ordinance and are few in number.

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.