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
Attribute	ParaguayReviewed	NauruReviewed	RomaniaReviewed	CyprusReviewed
Legal family	Civil law	Common law with customary law	Civil law	Mixed common law and civil law
System of government	Unitary presidential republic	Parliamentary republic	Unitary semi-presidential republic	Unitary presidential republic
Constitution	Constitution of the Republic of Paraguay	Constitution of Nauru	Constitution of Romania	Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus
In force since	1992	1968	1991	1960
Capital	Asunción	Yaren (seat of government)	Bucharest	Nicosia
Official languages	Spanish, Guaraní	Nauruan, English	Romanian	Greek, Turkish
Currency	Paraguayan guaraní (PYG)	Australian dollar (AUD)	Romanian leu (RON)	Euro (EUR)
Population	6,900,000	12,500	19,000,000	1,260,000
Division of powers	Unitary 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 and highly centralised — Nauru has no second tier of general government. The Nauru Island Council was abolished in 1999, so the state deals directly with citizens, though the 14 districts remain the basis for parliamentary constituencies and the twelve tribes retain social significance in land and title questions.	Semi-presidential: a directly elected President shares executive power with a Government answerable to Parliament, and constitutional conflicts between them are themselves justiciable before the Constitutional Court.	Unitary, with districts administered centrally and elected municipalities. In practice the government exercises effective control over roughly the southern two-thirds of the island; the north has been separately administered since 1974 under an entity recognised only by Turkey, and the application of the EU acquis is suspended there under Protocol 10 to the Accession Treaty. The atlas describes the law of the Republic and notes where it is not effectively applied.
How law is made	Bills 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 receive three readings in the 19-member chamber and are assented to by the President. Ordinary legislation needs a simple majority, but the entrenched provisions of Part XI require a two-thirds majority and, for the most protected articles, approval at a referendum — the barrier that defeated the 2010 reform proposals.	A bill goes to a first-notified chamber and then to the decisional chamber, whose vote is final. The President may return it once for reconsideration or refer it to the Constitutional Court before promulgation and publication in Monitorul Oficial.	Bills are introduced by ministers or members and passed by the House of Representatives. The President may return a law for reconsideration or refer it to the Supreme Court for a constitutionality ruling before promulgation; if the Court finds no conflict, promulgation follows. Laws enter into force on publication in the Official Gazette unless otherwise provided, and EU obligations are frequently implemented by harmonising statute and regulation.
Legal profession	A 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 Guaraní are official, courts must provide interpretation, and practitioners outside Asunción are commonly bilingual.	A very small fused profession admitted by the Supreme Court under the Legal Practitioners Act 1973, supplemented by pleaders — non-lawyers licensed to appear in the District Court and before the Lands Committee, a practical necessity given the number of resident lawyers. Judicial officers are frequently appointed from Australia, New Zealand or elsewhere in the Pacific.	Lawyers (avocați) are admitted through local bars affiliated to the UNBR after examination and a two-year traineeship; notaries and judicial enforcement officers are separate professions.	A fused profession of advocates admitted under the Advocates Law after a law degree, the Legal Council examinations and a twelve-month pupillage, with compulsory membership of the Cyprus Bar Association. Many practitioners qualify in the United Kingdom or Greece, and English-language practice is standard in commercial work. Advocates hold a monopoly on court representation and on certifying company documents, and the profession is unusually large per head of population because of the international corporate and trusts business.

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 — the constitutional detail behind a one-line summary is often the part that governs the outcome.