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Comparison of selected legal systems
AttributeParaguayReviewedBoliviaReviewedMexicoReviewedLibyaIndexed
Legal familyCivil lawCivil law with indigenous jurisdictionCivil lawCivil law with Islamic law as a source
System of governmentUnitary presidential republicUnitary presidential republicFederal presidential republicProvisional government with contested authority
ConstitutionConstitution of the Republic of ParaguayPolitical Constitution of the Plurinational State of BoliviaPolitical Constitution of the United Mexican StatesConstitutional Declaration (interim)
In force since1992200919172011
CapitalAsunciรณnSucreMexico CityTripoli
Official languagesSpanish, GuaranรญSpanish, Quechua, Aymara, GuaranรญSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec MayaArabic
CurrencyParaguayan guaranรญ (PYG)Bolivian boliviano (BOB)Mexican peso (MXN)Libyan dinar (LYD)
Population6,900,00012,400,000130,000,0006,900,000
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 with autonomies. Nine departments, municipalities, regions and indigenous territories each have elected assemblies and defined legislative competence under the Framework Law of Autonomies, which makes Bolivia substantially more decentralised than its unitary label suggests.Federal. Powers not expressly granted to the union are reserved to the 32 states (Article 124). States run their own civil, family and criminal-enforcement codes, but criminal procedure, labour and commercial law were federalised to produce single national codes.Nominally unitary with governorates and municipalities. In practice authority is divided between competing administrations and local armed actors, and municipal councils have in many places become the most functional layer of government.
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 reach the Assembly from members, the executive, citizens or indigenous nations, and must pass both chambers. The President may observe a bill, and the Assembly insists by two-thirds. Total constitutional reform requires a constituent assembly activated by referendum; partial reform needs a two-thirds Assembly vote confirmed by referendum.Bills may be introduced by the President, either chamber, state legislatures or by citizens with 0.13% of the electoral roll. Both chambers must pass an identical text; the President may veto, and Congress overrides with two-thirds of each chamber. Constitutional amendments need two-thirds of Congress plus a majority of state legislatures (Article 135).There is no single functioning legislative process. The House of Representatives passes laws that the High Council of State contests, and the rival administrations issue decrees within their areas of control. Whether a given instrument is law therefore depends on which authority is recognised, which is exactly why this profile is marked as requiring research rather than described as settled.
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 law degree plus a national registration with the Ministry of Justice and membership of a departmental colegio de abogados. Practitioners in indigenous jurisdiction are not lawyers: those proceedings are conducted by the community's own authorities under its own norms, and a state lawyer has no right of audience there.A law degree plus a cรฉdula profesional from the Education Ministry licenses practice; there is no compulsory bar examination or single mandatory bar, which distinguishes Mexico from most of the region. Notaries public are a separate, strictly limited state-appointed profession with exclusive competence over real estate and company deeds.Advocates are admitted through the Libyan Bar Association, and the profession has continued to function, including in human-rights litigation, despite serious risks to practitioners. Judicial appointments run through the Supreme Judicial Council. Reliable current information on admission requirements and numbers is limited, which is reflected in the verification status of this entry.

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.