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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
AttributeParaguayReviewedMoldovaReviewedUruguayReviewedHaitiReviewed
Legal familyIdenticalCivil lawCivil lawCivil lawCivil law
System of governmentUnitary presidential republicUnitary parliamentary republicUnitary presidential republicUnitary semi-presidential republic
ConstitutionConstitution of the Republic of ParaguayConstitution of the Republic of MoldovaConstitution of the Oriental Republic of UruguayConstitution de la Rรฉpublique d'Haรฏti
In force since1992199419671987
CapitalAsunciรณnChiศ™inฤƒuMontevideoPort-au-Prince
Official languagesSpanish, GuaranรญRomanianSpanishFrench, Haitian Creole
CurrencyParaguayan guaranรญ (PYG)Moldovan leu (MDL)Uruguayan peso (UYU)Haitian gourde (HTG)
Population6,900,0002,400,0003,400,00011,600,000
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, though the President has been directly elected since 2016; the Constitutional Court arbitrates between the two.Unitary. Nineteen departments have elected intendentes and juntas with administrative and local taxing competence, and municipalities were added in 2010, but all legislative power belongs to the General Assembly.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.Bills are adopted by Parliament, usually in two readings, and promulgated by the President, who may return a bill once for reconsideration. Publication in Monitorul Oficial is a condition of entry into force.Bills pass both chambers; disagreement is resolved by the General Assembly sitting jointly. The executive may veto, overcome by three-fifths of the joint assembly. Distinctively, 25% of registered voters can force a referendum to repeal a statute within one year of promulgation, and 10% can initiate a constitutional plebiscite.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.Lawyers are licensed by the Union of Advocates after examination and traineeship; notaries, bailiffs and authorised administrators are separate licensed professions.A degree from the Universidad de la Repรบblica or an accredited private faculty confers the title of abogado, with registration by the Supreme Court. Membership of the Colegio de Abogados del Uruguay is voluntary; the Supreme Court exercises discipline. Escribanos pรบblicos are a separate profession with exclusive competence over conveyancing.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.