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	NamibiaReviewed	MicronesiaReviewed	ZambiaReviewed
Legal family	Mixed Roman-Dutch and English common law	Mixed common law with customary law	English common law with customary law
System of government	Semi-presidential republic	Federal republic in free association with the United States	Presidential republic
Constitution	Constitution of the Republic of Namibia	Constitution of the Federated States of Micronesia	Constitution of Zambia
In force since	1990	1979	1991
Capital	Windhoek	Palikir	Lusaka
Official languages	English	English, Chuukese, Pohnpeian, Yapese, Kosraean	English
Currency	Namibian dollar (NAD)	United States dollar (USD)	Zambian kwacha (ZMW)
Population	2,600,000	115,000	20,600,000
Division of powers	Unitary with 14 administrative regions and elected regional councils, which also constitute the National Council, the upper chamber. Traditional authorities exercise recognised functions over communal land and customary law.	Genuine federalism. The national government holds foreign affairs, defence, immigration, currency and interstate commerce; everything else, including land tenure, is state or local. Each state has its own constitution and supreme court, and Yap's constitution creates Councils of Pilung and Tamol — traditional leaders' councils with power to disapprove state legislation affecting tradition and custom.	Unitary with ten provinces and decentralised district councils. Chiefs administer customary land through the House of Chiefs, which advises on matters of custom and tradition.
How law is made	Bills pass the National Assembly through three readings, then go to the National Council for review. The Council may confirm, propose amendments, or object; the Assembly can override an objection by a two-thirds majority. The President then assents, and constitutional amendments require two-thirds of both chambers and may never diminish the rights chapter.	Bills pass Congress and are signed by the President, who has a veto that Congress may override. Because the four at-large senators serve longer terms and are the pool from which the President is drawn, national politics is structured around balancing the states rather than around parties — there are no formal political parties. Constitutional amendments may be proposed by Congress, by a convention, or by popular initiative, and require ratification by three-quarters of the voters in three of the four states.	Bills are published in the Gazette, read three times in the National Assembly with committee scrutiny, and presented for presidential assent. Constitutional amendments require two-thirds of the membership, and amendments touching the bill of rights or the sovereignty provisions additionally require a national referendum — the reason several attempted rights reforms have stalled.
Legal profession	A fused profession under the Legal Practitioners Act: a single class of legal practitioner is admitted after a law degree and the Justice Training Centre's postgraduate course, and the Law Society of Namibia regulates practice.	Admission is to the FSM Supreme Court, with rules that recognise foreign qualifications, so many practitioners trained in the United States. A distinctive feature is the trial counselor: a non-lawyer licensed to appear in certain courts after examination, which is how most representation is delivered outside the main centres. Practitioners must often hold admission both nationally and in the relevant state.	A fused profession of practitioners admitted after a law degree and the Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education programme, regulated by the Law Association of Zambia; senior practitioners may be appointed State Counsel.

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.