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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Comparison of selected legal systems
Attribute	MaltaReviewed	BelgiumReviewed
Legal family	Mixed (civil and common law)	Civil law
System of government	Unitary parliamentary republic	Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Constitution	Constitution of Malta	Constitution of Belgium
In force since	1964	1831
Capital	Valletta	Brussels
Official languages	Maltese, English	Dutch, French, German
CurrencyIdentical	Euro (EUR)	Euro (EUR)
Population	540,000	11,800,000
Division of powers	A parliamentary republic with a ceremonial President, a Cabinet led by the Prime Minister answerable to the House of Representatives and an independent judiciary.	Federal, alongside three Regions (Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels-Capital) and three Communities (Flemish, French, German-speaking). Regional decrees and community decrees have the same legal force as federal statute within their competences; there is no general federal supremacy clause. The Constitutional Court, not a hierarchy of norms, resolves conflicts of competence.
How law is made	Bills are passed by the House of Representatives and assented to by the President before publication in the Government Gazette.	Most federal bills now follow a monocameral procedure in the Chamber of Representatives; the Senate intervenes only in the matters the Constitution reserves to bicameral treatment, such as constitutional revision and the institutional framework. The Council of State Legislation Section gives a prior opinion on drafts. A text is sanctioned and promulgated by the King and enters into force after publication in the Moniteur belge / Belgisch Staatsblad.
Legal profession	Advocates are admitted to the bar after a law degree and warrant; legal procurators and notaries handle procedural filing and authentication of deeds.	Advocaten and avocats are admitted to a local bar and organised in two federations, the OVB for Dutch-speaking and AVOCATS.BE for French and German-speaking members. Qualification requires a law degree, a three-year traineeship (stage) under a supervising lawyer, and bar examinations. Notaries and bailiffs are separate regulated professions with numerus clausus appointments.

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.