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	UruguayReviewed	MexicoReviewed	CanadaReviewed	GrenadaReviewed
Legal family	Civil law	Civil law	Civil law	Bijural: common law and Québec civil law	Common law
System of government	Unitary presidential republic	Unitary presidential republic	Federal presidential republic	Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy	Constitutional monarchy
Constitution	Constitution of the Republic of Paraguay	Constitution of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay	Political Constitution of the United Mexican States	Constitution Acts, 1867 and 1982	The Grenada Constitution
In force since	1992	1967	1917	1982	1973
Capital	Asunción	Montevideo	Mexico City	Ottawa	Saint George's
Official languages	Spanish, Guaraní	Spanish	Spanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya	English, French	English
Currency	Paraguayan guaraní (PYG)	Uruguayan peso (UYU)	Mexican peso (MXN)	Canadian Dollar (CAD)	East Caribbean dollar (XCD)
Population	6,900,000	3,400,000	130,000,000	41,200,000	126,000
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. 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.	Federal. Powers not expressly granted to the union are reserved to the 32 states (Article 124). States run their own civil, family and criminal-enforcement codes, but criminal procedure, labour and commercial law were federalised to produce single national codes.	Sections 91 and 92 divide federal and provincial competence. Section 33 allows a legislature to override certain Charter rights for renewable five-year periods.	Unitary. The state comprises Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique; Carriacou and Petite Martinique have a Ministry and local administration but no separate legislature.
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 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.	Bills may be introduced by the President, either chamber, state legislatures or by citizens with 0.13% of the electoral roll. Both chambers must pass an identical text; the President may veto, and Congress overrides with two-thirds of each chamber. Constitutional amendments need two-thirds of Congress plus a majority of state legislatures (Article 135).	Three readings plus committee study in each chamber, then Royal Assent. Money bills must originate in the Commons.	Bills pass three readings in both Houses and receive the Governor-General's assent. Constitutional amendments to entrenched provisions need a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives and then approval by a referendum, a double lock that has defeated every reform package put to voters.
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 degree from the Universidad de la República 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 públicos are a separate profession with exclusive competence over conveyancing.	A law degree plus a cédula profesional from the Education Ministry licenses practice; there is no compulsory bar examination or single mandatory bar, which distinguishes Mexico from most of the region. Notaries public are a separate, strictly limited state-appointed profession with exclusive competence over real estate and company deeds.	Provincial law societies regulate admission: an accredited degree, articles, and bar admission courses. Québec has separate avocat and notaire professions.	A fused profession of legal practitioners admitted by the High Court under the Legal Profession Act, after a law degree and the Legal Education Certificate. The Grenada Bar Association represents practitioners.

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.