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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
AttributeParaguayReviewedMyanmarReviewedLesothoReviewedSpainReviewed
Legal familyCivil lawCommon law with codified statutesMixed Roman-Dutch and English common lawCivil law
System of governmentUnitary presidential republicMilitary administration; constitutional order suspendedParliamentary constitutional monarchyUnitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
ConstitutionConstitution of the Republic of ParaguayConstitution of the Republic of the Union of MyanmarConstitution of LesothoSpanish Constitution
In force since1992200819931978
CapitalAsunciรณnNaypyidawMaseruMadrid
Official languagesSpanish, GuaranรญBurmeseSesotho, EnglishSpanish
CurrencyParaguayan guaranรญ (PYG)Kyat (MMK)Lesotho loti (LSL)Euro (EUR)
Population6,900,00054,500,0002,300,00048,400,000
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.Nominally a union of seven regions, seven states, one union territory and six self-administered zones and divisions, each with its own legislature under the 2008 Constitution. In practice the region and state legislatures are suspended or subordinated to the military administration, and chief ministers are appointed centrally.Unitary with ten districts, and a recognised hierarchy of chiefs exercising customary functions over land allocation and local dispute resolution. The Senate includes the twenty-two principal chiefs ex officio.A constitutional monarchy with the King as head of state, an executive led by the President of the Government, a bicameral parliament and an independent judiciary, overlaid by extensive regional self-government.
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 2008 Constitution, bills passed both chambers and went to the President, with disagreements resolved in joint sitting. Since February 2021 legislation is made by the State Administration Council as law or order, published in the Gazette without legislative passage, and a series of such instruments has amended the Penal Code, the electronic communications law and the criminal procedure code.Bills pass three readings in the National Assembly, go to the Senate for review, and receive royal assent. The Senate can delay but not indefinitely block ordinary bills. Amendments to entrenched constitutional provisions require a two-thirds majority and, for the most protected clauses, a referendum.Bills pass both chambers of the Cortes Generales, with the Congress of Deputies able to override the Senate, and receive royal assent.
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 and higher-grade pleaders are admitted under the Legal Practitioners Act 1879 and the Bar Council Act 1929, an inherited colonial framework, with the Supreme Court controlling the roll. Independent bar associations formed after 2011 but the Bar Council has long been closely supervised, and lawyers acting in political cases have themselves faced prosecution and disbarment since 2021. Legal aid exists under the Legal Aid Law 2016 but is thinly resourced.A split profession in form โ€” advocates and attorneys are separately admitted under the Legal Practitioners Act โ€” though in practice many practitioners hold both admissions; the Law Society of Lesotho regulates the attorneys' branch.Abogados belong to local bar associations (colegios de abogados); procuradores represent parties procedurally and notaries authenticate deeds and company acts.

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.