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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
AttributeParaguayReviewedGhanaReviewedHaitiReviewedNamibiaReviewed
Legal familyCivil lawMixed (common law and customary law)Civil lawMixed Roman-Dutch and English common law
System of governmentUnitary presidential republicUnitary presidential republicUnitary semi-presidential republicSemi-presidential republic
ConstitutionConstitution of the Republic of ParaguayConstitution of the Republic of GhanaConstitution de la Rรฉpublique d'HaรฏtiConstitution of the Republic of Namibia
In force since1992199219871990
CapitalAsunciรณnAccraPort-au-PrinceWindhoek
Official languagesSpanish, GuaranรญEnglish, Akan, Ewe, DagbaniFrench, Haitian CreoleEnglish
CurrencyParaguayan guaranรญ (PYG)Ghanaian Cedi (GHS)Haitian gourde (HTG)Namibian dollar (NAD)
Population6,900,00034,100,00011,600,0002,600,000
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.Executive president with a Cabinet drawn substantially from Parliament, a unicameral legislature, and a judiciary whose independence is protected by security of tenure and a charged-on-consolidated-fund salary.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.Unitary with 14 administrative regions and elected regional councils, which also constitute the National Council, the upper chamber. Traditional authorities exercise recognised functions over communal land and customary law.
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.A bill is gazetted, read three times, considered by committee and passed by simple majority. Bills with financial implications need presidential consent to be introduced. The President assents; refusal returns the bill with reasons.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.Bills pass the National Assembly through three readings, then go to the National Council for review. The Council may confirm, propose amendments, or object; the Assembly can override an objection by a two-thirds majority. The President then assents, and constitutional amendments require two-thirds of both chambers and may never diminish the rights chapter.
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.Fused: an LLB, the Ghana School of Law professional course and enrolment admit a lawyer who may both solicit and advocate.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 fused profession under the Legal Practitioners Act: a single class of legal practitioner is admitted after a law degree and the Justice Training Centre's postgraduate course, and the Law Society of Namibia regulates practice.

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.