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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
AttributeParaguayReviewedHaitiReviewedComorosReviewedCanadaReviewed
Legal familyCivil lawCivil lawMixed French civil law and Islamic lawBijural: common law and Quรฉbec civil law
System of governmentUnitary presidential republicUnitary semi-presidential republicFederal presidential republicFederal parliamentary constitutional monarchy
ConstitutionConstitution of the Republic of ParaguayConstitution de la Rรฉpublique d'HaรฏtiConstitution of the Union of the ComorosConstitution Acts, 1867 and 1982
In force since1992198720011982
CapitalAsunciรณnPort-au-PrinceMoroniOttawa
Official languagesSpanish, GuaranรญFrench, Haitian CreoleComorian, Arabic, FrenchEnglish, French
CurrencyParaguayan guaranรญ (PYG)Haitian gourde (HTG)Comorian franc (KMF)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
Population6,900,00011,600,000850,00041,200,000
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 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.Federal. Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohรฉli each have a governor and their own assembly with substantial autonomy over local administration, while the Union handles defence, currency, foreign affairs and nationality.Sections 91 and 92 divide federal and provincial competence. Section 33 allows a legislature to override certain Charter rights for renewable five-year periods.
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.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 originate with the government or members of the Assembly of the Union, are examined in committee and passed by the Assembly, then promulgated by the President. Matters within island competence are legislated by the island assemblies, and disputes over the boundary between Union and island competence are a standing feature of Comorian constitutional practice.Three readings plus committee study in each chamber, then Royal Assent. Money bills must originate in the Commons.
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 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 small bar of avocats admitted after French-model legal training, supplemented by qadis who require religious-law qualification for the personal-status jurisdiction; many practitioners train in France or Madagascar.Provincial law societies regulate admission: an accredited degree, articles, and bar admission courses. Quรฉbec has separate avocat and notaire professions.

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.