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	MaldivesReviewed	GrenadaReviewed	LesothoReviewed
Legal family	Mixed Islamic and common law	Common law	Mixed Roman-Dutch and English common law
System of government	Presidential republic	Constitutional monarchy	Parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Constitution	Constitution of the Republic of Maldives	The Grenada Constitution	Constitution of Lesotho
In force since	2008	1973	1993
Capital	Malé	Saint George's	Maseru
Official languages	Dhivehi	English	Sesotho, English
Currency	Maldivian rufiyaa (MVR)	East Caribbean dollar (XCD)	Lesotho loti (LSL)
Population	521,000	126,000	2,300,000
Division of powers	Unitary with a decentralised layer under the Decentralisation Act 2010: 21 atolls with elected atoll councils, plus island and city councils. Councils have limited revenue-raising and service delivery functions; the geography of roughly 190 inhabited islands makes administrative decentralisation a practical necessity rather than a constitutional division of sovereignty.	Unitary. The state comprises Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique; Carriacou and Petite Martinique have a Ministry and local administration but no separate legislature.	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.
How law is made	Bills pass the Majlis by simple majority and go to the President, who may assent or return the bill once; a second passage requires assent. The Attorney General advises on constitutionality, and the Supreme Court may rule on it after enactment. Constitutional amendments need a two-thirds majority, and amendments to specified provisions also require a public referendum.	Bills pass three readings in both Houses and receive the Governor-General's assent. Constitutional amendments to entrenched provisions need a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives and then approval by a referendum, a double lock that has defeated every reform package put to voters.	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.
Legal profession	Lawyers are licensed and regulated by the Maldives Bar Council, established under the Legal Profession Act 2019 — before which licensing sat with the Attorney General's office and then the Department of Judicial Administration. A recognised law degree, the Bar examination and a period of training are required, and licences are tiered by the level of court in which the lawyer may appear.	A fused profession of legal practitioners admitted by the High Court under the Legal Profession Act, after a law degree and the Legal Education Certificate. The Grenada Bar Association represents practitioners.	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.

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.