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	PanamaReviewed	GrenadaReviewed	MicronesiaReviewed
Legal family	Civil law	Common law	Mixed common law with customary law
System of government	Unitary presidential republic	Constitutional monarchy	Federal republic in free association with the United States
Constitution	Political Constitution of the Republic of Panama	The Grenada Constitution	Constitution of the Federated States of Micronesia
In force since	1972	1973	1979
Capital	Panama City	Saint George's	Palikir
Official languages	Spanish	English	English, Chuukese, Pohnpeian, Yapese, Kosraean
Currency	Balboa (US dollar in circulation) (PAB)	East Caribbean dollar (XCD)	United States dollar (USD)
Population	4,400,000	126,000	115,000
Division of powers	Unitary, with ten provinces and five indigenous comarcas. The comarcas — Guna Yala, Emberá-Wounaan, Ngäbe-Buglé, Guna de Madugandí and Guna de Wargandí — hold recognised collective land title and internal authority.	Unitary. The state comprises Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique; Carriacou and Petite Martinique have a Ministry and local administration but no separate legislature.	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.
How law is made	Bills receive three debates in the National Assembly. The President may object in whole or in part; the Assembly insists with a two-thirds vote, after which the President must promulgate unless the objection was constitutional, in which case the Supreme Court decides.	Bills pass three readings in both Houses and receive the Governor-General's assent. Constitutional amendments to entrenched provisions need a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives and then approval by a referendum, a double lock that has defeated every reform package put to voters.	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.
Legal profession	Practice requires a Panamanian law degree and a licence from the Supreme Court; the Colegio Nacional de Abogados is influential but membership is voluntary. Only Panamanian lawyers may appear in court, which is why offshore work is routinely structured through local counsel.	A fused profession of legal practitioners admitted by the High Court under the Legal Profession Act, after a law degree and the Legal Education Certificate. The Grenada Bar Association represents practitioners.	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 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.