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	MonacoReviewed	SpainReviewed	MadagascarReviewed
Legal family	Civil law	Civil law	French civil law with customary law
System of government	Constitutional hereditary monarchy	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy	Semi-presidential republic
Constitution	Constitution of the Principality of Monaco	Spanish Constitution	Constitution of the Fourth Republic
In force since	1962	1978	2010
Capital	Monaco	Madrid	Antananarivo
Official languages	French	Spanish	Malagasy, French
Currency	Euro (EUR)	Euro (EUR)	Malagasy ariary (MGA)
Population	39,000	48,400,000	30,300,000
Division of powers	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.	A constitutional monarchy with the King as head of state, an executive led by the President of the Government, a bicameral parliament and an independent judiciary, overlaid by extensive regional self-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.
How law is made	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.	Bills pass both chambers of the Cortes Generales, with the Congress of Deputies able to override the Senate, and receive royal assent.	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.
Legal profession	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.	Abogados belong to local bar associations (colegios de abogados); procuradores represent parties procedurally and notaries authenticate deeds and company acts.	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.

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.