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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
AttributeParaguayReviewedThe BahamasReviewedHaitiReviewed
Legal familyCivil lawCommon lawCivil law
System of governmentUnitary presidential republicConstitutional monarchyUnitary semi-presidential republic
ConstitutionConstitution of the Republic of ParaguayThe Constitution of the Commonwealth of The BahamasConstitution de la Rรฉpublique d'Haรฏti
In force since199219731987
CapitalAsunciรณnNassauPort-au-Prince
Official languagesSpanish, GuaranรญEnglishFrench, Haitian Creole
CurrencyParaguayan guaranรญ (PYG)Bahamian dollar (BSD)Haitian gourde (HTG)
Population6,900,000410,00011,600,000
Division of powersUnitary with seventeen departments and the capital district, each with an elected governor and departmental board holding administrative and limited fiscal competence. Legislative power is national.Unitary. Parliament legislates nationally; the Family Islands are administered through local government districts created by the Local Government Act 1996, with New Providence excluded from that scheme.Unitary with constitutionally recognised decentralisation to 10 departments, arrondissements and communes, and to the communal section as the smallest territorial unit. In practice the elected local bodies are largely unfilled and replaced by appointed interim commissions.
How law is madeBills may start in either chamber and must pass both. The President may object in whole or part; Congress overcomes an objection by absolute majority in both chambers. Constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote of each chamber and ratification by referendum; wholesale reform requires a constituent assembly.Bills pass three readings in the House of Assembly and Senate before the Governor-General assents. Entrenched constitutional provisions, including those on citizenship and the composition of Parliament, require both a three-quarters parliamentary majority and approval by referendum, which is why constitutional change has repeatedly failed.Under the 1987 Constitution bills pass both chambers and are promulgated by the President, who may return a text once for reconsideration. With Parliament not sitting, measures have been issued as executive decrees since 2020 โ€” a practice widely criticised as lacking constitutional foundation, and a key reason to check the current status of any recent instrument before relying on it.
Legal professionA law degree and registration of the title with the Supreme Court, which maintains the roll and exercises discipline. Bar membership is voluntary. Because both Spanish and Guaranรญ are official, courts must provide interpretation, and practitioners outside Asunciรณn are commonly bilingual.A fused profession of counsel and attorneys admitted by the Supreme Court under the Legal Profession Act 1992, after a law degree and either the Legal Education Certificate or qualification in another common-law jurisdiction. The Bahamas Bar Association and its Bar Council regulate practice.Advocates are admitted to one of the departmental bars (Ordre des avocats), most prominently the Port-au-Prince bar, after a law degree and a period of pupillage. Notaries hold a separate public office with exclusive competence over authentic acts including land transfers, which matters greatly given widespread informality in land title.

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.