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	LibyaIndexed	MadagascarReviewed	EritreaIndexed
Legal family	Civil law with Islamic law as a source	French civil law with customary law	Civil law with customary law
System of government	Provisional government with contested authority	Semi-presidential republic	Single-party state
Constitution	Constitutional Declaration (interim)	Constitution of the Fourth Republic	Constitution of Eritrea (ratified 1997, never implemented)
In force since	2011	2010	1997
Capital	Tripoli	Antananarivo	Asmara
Official languages	Arabic	Malagasy, French	Tigrinya, Arabic, English
Currency	Libyan dinar (LYD)	Malagasy ariary (MGA)	Eritrean nakfa (ERN)
Population	6,900,000	30,300,000	3,700,000
Division of powers	Nominally unitary with governorates and municipalities. In practice authority is divided between competing administrations and local armed actors, and municipal councils have in many places become the most functional layer of government.	Unitary with a decentralised structure of 23 regions and communes. Successive constitutions have promised fuller decentralisation, including provincial autonomy, which has not been implemented.	Unitary, with six regions and sub-regional administrations whose administrators are centrally appointed. There is no elected regional tier and no legislative devolution.
How law is made	There is no single functioning legislative process. The House of Representatives passes laws that the High Council of State contests, and the rival administrations issue decrees within their areas of control. Whether a given instrument is law therefore depends on which authority is recognised, which is exactly why this profile is marked as requiring research rather than described as settled.	Bills originate with the government or members of either chamber, are examined in committee, and must pass both the National Assembly and the Senate; the Assembly prevails on disagreement. The Haute Cour Constitutionnelle may review a law before promulgation, and organic laws must be referred to it as a matter of course.	There is no functioning parliamentary process. Law is made by proclamation issued through the executive and published in the Gazette of Eritrean Laws. Because the National Assembly has not sat for more than two decades, the ordinary description of a legislative procedure would be inapplicable.
Legal profession	Advocates are admitted through the Libyan Bar Association, and the profession has continued to function, including in human-rights litigation, despite serious risks to practitioners. Judicial appointments run through the Supreme Judicial Council. Reliable current information on admission requirements and numbers is limited, which is reflected in the verification status of this entry.	Avocats admitted to the Ordre des avocats de Madagascar after a law degree and professional training, alongside notaires for authenticated instruments and huissiers for service and enforcement — the standard French division of functions.	The profession is very small. Advocates are licensed by the Ministry of Justice, there is no independent bar association, and legal education runs through a limited number of state institutions following the closure of the University of Asmara as a degree-granting body in 2006. Representation is not permitted before the Special Court. Reliable current figures are not available.

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.