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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
AttributeParaguayReviewedSouth SudanIndexedFijiReviewed
Legal familyCivil lawCommon law with customary lawCommon law with customary law
System of governmentUnitary presidential republicTransitional government of national unityUnitary parliamentary republic
ConstitutionConstitution of the Republic of ParaguayTransitional Constitution of the Republic of South SudanConstitution of the Republic of Fiji
In force since199220112013
CapitalAsunciรณnJubaSuva
Official languagesSpanish, GuaranรญEnglish, Arabic, Dinka, NuerEnglish, Fijian, Fiji Hindi
CurrencyParaguayan guaranรญ (PYG)South Sudanese pound (SSP)Fijian dollar (FJD)
Population6,900,00011,100,000930,000
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.Decentralised in form, with states and administrative areas whose number has changed repeatedly โ€” from ten at independence to twenty-eight, then thirty-two, and back to ten plus administrative areas under the 2018 agreement. Local government includes county and payam tiers and statutory customary authorities.Unitary and deliberately centralised. Section 1 declares Fiji a sovereign state whose Parliament legislates for the whole country; there are no provinces with legislative power. The 14 provincial councils and the iTaukei Affairs Board administer indigenous affairs under the iTaukei Affairs Act. Rotuma has a distinct status under the Rotuma Act.
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 introduced by ministers or members, considered in committee and passed by the Transitional National Legislative Assembly, with the Council of States participating on matters affecting the states. The President assents. Because the legislature is constituted by power-sharing quota rather than election, and because several key bills including the permanent constitutional process have stalled, the process is transitional rather than settled.Bills are introduced in the unicameral Parliament, referred to a standing committee, and pass through second reading, committee and third reading before assent by the President. There is no upper house. A constitutional amendment requires the support of three-quarters of all members of Parliament and then approval by three-quarters of registered voters at a referendum, a threshold that has never been met.
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 are admitted through the Ministry of Justice and represented by the South Sudan Bar Association, and the profession is small relative to need, with many practitioners trained in Uganda, Kenya or Sudan. Judicial numbers are low and vacancies persistent, which is a large part of why customary courts carry most of the dispute-resolution load.A fused profession under the Legal Practitioners Act 2009: practitioners are admitted by the Chief Justice as barristers and solicitors. Most qualify through the University of the South Pacific law degree followed by the Professional Diploma in Legal Practice. Admission and discipline are handled by the Chief Registrar and the Independent Legal Services Commission rather than by the Fiji Law Society, which is a voluntary professional body.

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.