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	MonacoReviewed	VanuatuReviewed	GabonIndexed
Legal family	Civil law	Mixed common, civil and customary law	Civil law (French tradition)
System of government	Constitutional hereditary monarchy	Unitary parliamentary republic	Unitary presidential republic
Constitution	Constitution of the Principality of Monaco	Constitution of the Republic of Vanuatu	Constitution of the Gabonese Republic
In force since	1962	1980	2024
Capital	Monaco	Port Vila	Libreville
Official languages	French	Bislama, English, French	French
Currency	Euro (EUR)	Vanuatu vatu (VUV)	Central African CFA franc (XAF)
Population	39,000	330,000	2,500,000
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.	Unitary with decentralised administration. Six provinces — Malampa, Penama, Sanma, Shefa, Tafea and Torba — have councils under the Decentralisation Act with delegated functions. Custom land management is decentralised much further, to area-level Custom Land Tribunals and nakamal-based decision-making under the Custom Land Management Act 2013.	Presidential system under the 2024 constitution, with a bicameral Parliament of National Assembly and Senate and a judiciary headed by the Court of Cassation, Council of State and Constitutional Court.
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 are read three times in the single chamber and assented to by the President, who may refer a bill to the Supreme Court if he considers it inconsistent with the Constitution. Ordinary bills need a simple majority of members present, with a quorum of two-thirds. Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority of all members; if the amendment touches the status of Bislama, English or French, land, or the republican form of the state, it must also be approved at a national referendum.	Bills pass committee and plenary in both chambers and are promulgated by the President. The Constitutional Court may review a text before promulgation on referral.
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.	A fused profession regulated by the Legal Practitioners Act: practitioners are admitted by the Chief Justice and licensed by the Law Council. The University of the South Pacific's law school is in Port Vila, so many Pacific lawyers train in Vanuatu. Practitioners may need to work in Bislama, English or French depending on the client and the court file, and the Public Solicitor is a constitutional office rather than a discretionary aid scheme.	Avocats admitted through the Ordre des avocats du Gabon; notaires and huissiers are separate regulated professions.

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.