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.
Select up to six documented jurisdictions
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| Attribute | RomaniaReviewed | Equatorial GuineaIndexed | SpainReviewed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal family | Civil law | Civil law (Spanish tradition) | Civil law |
| System of government | Unitary semi-presidential republic | Unitary presidential republic | Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
| Constitution | Constitution of Romania | Fundamental Law of Equatorial Guinea | Spanish Constitution |
| In force since | 1991 | 1991 | 1978 |
| Capital | Bucharest | Malabo | Madrid |
| Official languages | Romanian | Spanish, French, Portuguese | Spanish |
| Currency | Romanian leu (RON) | Central African CFA franc (XAF) | Euro (EUR) |
| Population | 19,000,000 | 1,700,000 | 48,400,000 |
| Division of powers | 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. | Presidential system with a Vice-President and Prime Minister, a bicameral Parliament of Chamber of Deputies and Senate, and a judiciary headed by the Supreme Court of Justice. | 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 made | 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 pass the Chamber of Deputies and Senate and are promulgated by the President, who may return a text for reconsideration. | Bills pass both chambers of the Cortes Generales, with the Congress of Deputies able to override the Senate, and receive royal assent. |
| Legal profession | 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. | Abogados admitted through the Ilustre Colegio de Abogados; practice requires competence in both Spanish codes and French-language OHADA texts. | 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 — the constitutional detail behind a one-line summary is often the part that governs the outcome.