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	NepalReviewed	TongaReviewed	MaltaReviewed
Legal family	Mixed common law and Hindu customary tradition	Common law with customary law	Mixed (civil and common law)
System of government	Federal parliamentary republic	Constitutional monarchy	Unitary parliamentary republic
Constitution	Constitution of Nepal	Act of Constitution of Tonga	Constitution of Malta
In force since	2015	1875	1964
Capital	Kathmandu	Nuku'alofa	Valletta
Official languages	Nepali	Tongan, English	Maltese, English
Currency	Nepalese rupee (NPR)	Tongan paʻanga (TOP)	Euro (EUR)
Population	30,500,000	105,000	540,000
Division of powers	Federal with three tiers: one federal government, seven provinces and 753 local units, each with its own elected assembly and schedule of exclusive powers. This is a genuine constitutional division rather than delegation — local units have taxing and legislative competence — and much post-2015 litigation concerns the boundaries between tiers and the slow transfer of staff and revenue.	Unitary. The Legislative Assembly legislates for the whole kingdom, and the island divisions of Tongatapu, Vava'u, Ha'apai, 'Eua and the Niuas are administrative districts headed by governors. Below that, town and district officers are elected under the Fakafekau'aki and District and Town Officers Act.	A parliamentary republic with a ceremonial President, a Cabinet led by the Prime Minister answerable to the House of Representatives and an independent judiciary.
How law is made	Bills pass both federal houses, except money bills which originate in the House of Representatives; the President must assent. Constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority in both houses and, where a provision affects provincial boundaries or powers, the consent of a majority of provincial assemblies. Provinces and local units legislate within their own schedules.	Bills pass three readings in the Legislative Assembly and require the King's assent, which is a real rather than purely formal step. Ordinary bills need a simple majority. Amendments to the Constitution require a majority in the Assembly at three separate readings and the consent of the King and Privy Council, and clause 79 forbids any amendment affecting the law of liberty, the succession to the throne or the titles and hereditary estates of the nobles.	Bills are passed by the House of Representatives and assented to by the President before publication in the Government Gazette.
Legal profession	Advocates are licensed by the Nepal Bar Council after a law degree and the Council's examination, with tiers of pleader, advocate and senior advocate. A single licence permits appearance at all levels, and the Nepal Bar Association is the professional body. Legal aid is provided under the Legal Aid Act 1997 through district committees, and the Constitution guarantees free legal aid to indigent parties.	Law practitioners are admitted by the Chief Justice and licensed under the Law Practitioners Act, with the Tonga Law Society as the professional body. Most qualify overseas or at the University of the South Pacific. A practitioner working on land must know the Land Act's allotment system rather than general property law, because the constitutional bar on selling land means conveyancing in the ordinary sense does not exist.	Advocates are admitted to the bar after a law degree and warrant; legal procurators and notaries handle procedural filing and authentication of deeds.

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.