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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
AttributeParaguayReviewedJapanReviewedHaitiReviewed
Legal familyCivil lawCivil law with common-law influenceCivil law
System of governmentUnitary presidential republicUnitary parliamentary constitutional monarchyUnitary semi-presidential republic
ConstitutionConstitution of the Republic of ParaguayConstitution of JapanConstitution de la Rรฉpublique d'Haรฏti
In force since199219471987
CapitalAsunciรณnTokyoPort-au-Prince
Official languagesSpanish, GuaranรญJapaneseFrench, Haitian Creole
CurrencyParaguayan guaranรญ (PYG)Japanese Yen (JPY)Haitian gourde (HTG)
Population6,900,000123,500,00011,600,000
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.Parliamentary government with the Cabinet collectively responsible to the Diet, and a Supreme Court holding the final power of constitutional review.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.
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.Most bills are Cabinet-sponsored, drafted by ministries and reviewed by the Cabinet Legislation Bureau, then passed by both houses; the lower house can override the upper by a two-thirds majority.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.
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.Candidates pass the national bar examination, then complete a year at the Legal Training and Research Institute before qualifying as bengoshi, judge or prosecutor.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 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.