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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
AttributePanamaReviewedGrenadaReviewedMyanmarReviewed
Legal familyCivil lawCommon lawCommon law with codified statutes
System of governmentUnitary presidential republicConstitutional monarchyMilitary administration; constitutional order suspended
ConstitutionPolitical Constitution of the Republic of PanamaThe Grenada ConstitutionConstitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar
In force since197219732008
CapitalPanama CitySaint George'sNaypyidaw
Official languagesSpanishEnglishBurmese
CurrencyBalboa (US dollar in circulation) (PAB)East Caribbean dollar (XCD)Kyat (MMK)
Population4,400,000126,00054,500,000
Division of powersUnitary, with ten provinces and five indigenous comarcas. The comarcas โ€” Guna Yala, Emberรก-Wounaan, Ngรคbe-Buglรฉ, Guna de Madugandรญ and Guna de Wargandรญ โ€” 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.Nominally a union of seven regions, seven states, one union territory and six self-administered zones and divisions, each with its own legislature under the 2008 Constitution. In practice the region and state legislatures are suspended or subordinated to the military administration, and chief ministers are appointed centrally.
How law is madeBills 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.Under the 2008 Constitution, bills passed both chambers and went to the President, with disagreements resolved in joint sitting. Since February 2021 legislation is made by the State Administration Council as law or order, published in the Gazette without legislative passage, and a series of such instruments has amended the Penal Code, the electronic communications law and the criminal procedure code.
Legal professionPractice 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.Advocates and higher-grade pleaders are admitted under the Legal Practitioners Act 1879 and the Bar Council Act 1929, an inherited colonial framework, with the Supreme Court controlling the roll. Independent bar associations formed after 2011 but the Bar Council has long been closely supervised, and lawyers acting in political cases have themselves faced prosecution and disbarment since 2021. Legal aid exists under the Legal Aid Law 2016 but is thinly resourced.

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 โ€” the constitutional detail behind a one-line summary is often the part that governs the outcome.