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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
AttributeParaguayReviewedBruneiReviewedLithuaniaReviewedMyanmarReviewed
Legal familyCivil lawMixed common law and Islamic lawCivil lawCommon law with codified statutes
System of governmentUnitary presidential republicAbsolute monarchyUnitary semi-presidential republicMilitary administration; constitutional order suspended
ConstitutionConstitution of the Republic of ParaguayConstitution of Brunei DarussalamConstitution of the Republic of LithuaniaConstitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar
In force since1992195919922008
CapitalAsunciรณnBandar Seri BegawanVilniusNaypyidaw
Official languagesSpanish, GuaranรญMalay, EnglishLithuanianBurmese
CurrencyParaguayan guaranรญ (PYG)Brunei dollar (BND)Euro (EUR)Kyat (MMK)
Population6,900,000450,0002,860,00054,500,000
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 four districts administered by district officers reporting to the Ministry of Home Affairs. No federal or devolved tier; village and mukim headmen have recognised consultative functions.Semi-presidential government with a directly elected President focused on foreign and security policy, a Government answerable to the Seimas, and a separate Constitutional Court.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 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.In form, bills are introduced in the Legislative Council and assented to by the Sultan. In practice the significant instruments are Orders made by the Sultan under the emergency proclamation, which take effect on publication in the Government Gazette without Council passage. The Syariah Penal Code Order 2013 was enacted this way.Bills are adopted by the Seimas and signed by the President, who may veto and return a bill for reconsideration.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 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.Advocates and solicitors are admitted by the High Court under the Legal Profession Act, generally after qualifying in England, Malaysia, Singapore or Australia and completing local requirements. The profession is small โ€” a few hundred practitioners โ€” and foreign counsel may be admitted ad hoc for particular cases. Syariah practice is a separate track: Syariah lawyers are certified under the Syariah Courts Act and appear only in the Syariah hierarchy, so a matter that crosses both systems needs two sets of representation.Advocates belong to the Lithuanian Bar Association; notaries handle property, company and succession formalities.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.