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
Attribute	ParaguayReviewed	QatarReviewed	BruneiReviewed	TongaReviewed
Legal family	Civil law	Mixed (civil law and Islamic law, with a common-law financial centre)	Mixed common law and Islamic law	Common law with customary law
System of government	Unitary presidential republic	Unitary constitutional monarchy	Absolute monarchy	Constitutional monarchy
Constitution	Constitution of the Republic of Paraguay	Permanent Constitution of the State of Qatar	Constitution of Brunei Darussalam	Act of Constitution of Tonga
In force since	1992	2004	1959	1875
Capital	Asunción	Doha	Bandar Seri Begawan	Nuku'alofa
Official languages	Spanish, Guaraní	Arabic	Malay, English	Tongan, English
Currency	Paraguayan guaraní (PYG)	Qatari riyal (QAR)	Brunei dollar (BND)	Tongan paʻanga (TOP)
Population	6,900,000	3,000,000	450,000	105,000
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. Eight municipalities administered centrally, with a Central Municipal Council of twenty-nine elected members holding advisory functions over local services only.	Unitary, with four districts administered by district officers reporting to the Ministry of Home Affairs. No federal or devolved tier; village and mukim headmen have recognised consultative functions.	Unitary. The Legislative Assembly legislates for the whole kingdom, and the island divisions of Tongatapu, Vava'u, Ha'apai, 'Eua and the Niuas are administrative districts headed by governors. Below that, town and district officers are elected under the Fakafekau'aki and District and Town Officers Act.
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.	The Council of Ministers prepares draft legislation, which goes to the Shura Council for review and then to the Emir for ratification and publication in the Official Gazette. The Emir may return a bill to the Council, and may legislate by decree when the Shura Council is not in session, subject to later submission. Following the 2024 amendment the Council is entirely appointed, so there is no elected legislative check.	In form, bills are introduced in the Legislative Council and assented to by the Sultan. In practice the significant instruments are Orders made by the Sultan under the emergency proclamation, which take effect on publication in the Government Gazette without Council passage. The Syariah Penal Code Order 2013 was enacted this way.	Bills pass three readings in the Legislative Assembly and require the King's assent, which is a real rather than purely formal step. Ordinary bills need a simple majority. Amendments to the Constitution require a majority in the Assembly at three separate readings and the consent of the King and Privy Council, and clause 79 forbids any amendment affecting the law of liberty, the succession to the throne or the titles and hereditary estates of the nobles.
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.	Advocacy before the ordinary courts is reserved to Qatari nationals on the roll of advocates, with foreign lawyers licensed as consultants; onshore pleadings are in Arabic. The QICDRC admits common-law practitioners and sits in English. Attestation before the Ministry of Justice notary is required for powers of attorney, company documents and real property transfers.	Advocates and solicitors are admitted by the High Court under the Legal Profession Act, generally after qualifying in England, Malaysia, Singapore or Australia and completing local requirements. The profession is small — a few hundred practitioners — and foreign counsel may be admitted ad hoc for particular cases. Syariah practice is a separate track: Syariah lawyers are certified under the Syariah Courts Act and appear only in the Syariah hierarchy, so a matter that crosses both systems needs two sets of representation.	Law practitioners are admitted by the Chief Justice and licensed under the Law Practitioners Act, with the Tonga Law Society as the professional body. Most qualify overseas or at the University of the South Pacific. A practitioner working on land must know the Land Act's allotment system rather than general property law, because the constitutional bar on selling land means conveyancing in the ordinary sense does not exist.

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.