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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
AttributeParaguayReviewedColombiaReviewedMaltaReviewed
Legal familyCivil lawCivil lawMixed (civil and common law)
System of governmentUnitary presidential republicUnitary presidential republicUnitary parliamentary republic
ConstitutionConstitution of the Republic of ParaguayPolitical Constitution of ColombiaConstitution of Malta
In force since199219911964
CapitalAsunciรณnBogotรกValletta
Official languagesSpanish, GuaranรญSpanishMaltese, English
CurrencyParaguayan guaranรญ (PYG)Colombian peso (COP)Euro (EUR)
Population6,900,00052,100,000540,000
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 but markedly decentralised. Thirty-two departments and the Capital District have elected governors, mayors and assemblies with taxing and spending powers, and indigenous territories exercise their own jurisdiction under Article 246, but legislative competence stays with the national Congress.A parliamentary republic with a ceremonial President, a Cabinet led by the Prime Minister answerable to the House of Representatives and an independent judiciary.
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 need four debates, two in each chamber, in successive committee and plenary stages within a single legislature. Statutory laws on rights must clear the Constitutional Court before promulgation. Amendments proceed by act of Congress over two consecutive ordinary sessions, by referendum, or by constituent assembly; the Court may strike an amendment down for substituting the Constitution rather than reforming it.Bills are passed by the House of Representatives and assented to by the President before publication in the Government Gazette.
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 five-year degree, a period of practice or a monograph, and a professional card (tarjeta profesional) issued by the Consejo Superior de la Judicatura, which also disciplines lawyers. Advocacy in most matters requires a licensed abogado, but the tutela is a deliberate exception: it may be filed by anyone, in writing or orally, without a lawyer.Advocates are admitted to the bar after a law degree and warrant; legal procurators and notaries handle procedural filing and authentication of deeds.

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.