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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
AttributeParaguayReviewedLiberiaReviewedBotswanaReviewedMalawiReviewed
Legal familyCivil lawMixed (American common law and customary law)Mixed Roman-Dutch and English common lawEnglish common law with customary law
System of governmentUnitary presidential republicUnitary presidential republicParliamentary republicPresidential republic
ConstitutionConstitution of the Republic of ParaguayConstitution of the Republic of LiberiaConstitution of BotswanaConstitution of the Republic of Malawi
In force since1992198619661994
CapitalAsunciรณnMonroviaGaboroneLilongwe
Official languagesSpanish, GuaranรญEnglish, Kpelle, BassaEnglish, SetswanaEnglish, Chichewa
CurrencyParaguayan guaranรญ (PYG)Liberian Dollar (LRD)Botswana pula (BWP)Malawian kwacha (MWK)
Population6,900,0005,400,0002,680,00020,900,000
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.American-style separation: an executive president, a bicameral legislature of Senate and House of Representatives, and a Supreme Court of five justices.Unitary. Districts and sub-districts administer central policy, and the House of Chiefs (Ntlo ya Dikgosi) is an advisory chamber that must be consulted on bills affecting customary law, tribal organisation and tribal property.Unitary with three regions and 28 districts administered by local councils. Traditional authorities exercise recognised functions over customary land and local dispute resolution.
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 pass both houses in identical form and go to the President, who signs or vetoes; a two-thirds vote of both houses overrides a veto.Bills are introduced in the National Assembly, take three readings with committee scrutiny between the second and third, and go to the President for assent. Bills affecting customary law, tribal property or the organisation of the tribes must first be referred to the Ntlo ya Dikgosi for its opinion, though that opinion does not bind the Assembly.Bills pass three readings in the National Assembly with committee scrutiny and are presented for presidential assent, which must be given or withheld within 21 days. Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority, and amendments affecting entrenched provisions additionally require a referendum.
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; graduates of the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law are admitted by the Supreme Court as counsellors-at-law, with the Liberian National Bar Association as the professional body.A fused profession of attorneys admitted by the High Court after a recognised law degree and articles of pupillage; there is no split between advocates and attorneys, and the Law Society of Botswana regulates practice.A fused profession of legal practitioners admitted by the High Court after a law degree, regulated by the Malawi Law Society under the Legal Education and Legal Practitioners Act.

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.