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	SamoaReviewed	BotswanaReviewed	Cape VerdeReviewed
Legal family	Common law with customary law	Mixed Roman-Dutch and English common law	Civil law (Portuguese tradition)
System of government	Unitary parliamentary republic	Parliamentary republic	Unitary semi-presidential republic
Constitution	Constitution of the Independent State of Samoa	Constitution of Botswana	Constitution of the Republic of Cabo Verde
In force since	1962	1966	1992
Capital	Apia	Gaborone	Praia
Official languages	Samoan, English	English, Setswana	Portuguese, Cape Verdean Creole
Currency	Samoan tālā (WST)	Botswana pula (BWP)	Cape Verdean Escudo (CVE)
Population	220,000	2,680,000	600,000
Division of powers	Unitary. Parliament legislates for the whole country. Below it, about 250 villages govern themselves through the village fono (council of matai) under the Village Fono Act 1990, which gives customary village authority statutory recognition — a genuine layer of local government rather than a delegation of central power.	Unitary. Districts and sub-districts administer central policy, and the House of Chiefs (Ntlo ya Dikgosi) is an advisory chamber that must be consulted on bills affecting customary law, tribal organisation and tribal property.	Semi-presidential: a directly elected President with limited powers, a Prime Minister accountable to the National Assembly, and an independent judiciary with a separate Constitutional Court.
How law is made	Bills are read three times in the Legislative Assembly, usually with parliamentary committee scrutiny, and are then assented to by the O le Ao o le Malo. Ordinary bills need a simple majority. Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority of all members at the third reading, and any amendment affecting customary land or matai titles is politically entrenched by the strength of the fa'a Samoa consensus even where the two-thirds threshold is met.	Bills are introduced in the National Assembly, take three readings with committee scrutiny between the second and third, and go to the President for assent. Bills affecting customary law, tribal property or the organisation of the tribes must first be referred to the Ntlo ya Dikgosi for its opinion, though that opinion does not bind the Assembly.	Bills are debated in general and in detail by the National Assembly, voted, then sent to the President for promulgation. The President may veto or request prior constitutional review by the Constitutional Court.
Legal profession	A fused profession under the Lawyers and Legal Practice Act 2014: lawyers are admitted by the Supreme Court and must hold a practising certificate from the Samoa Law Society. Most qualify at the University of the South Pacific or in New Zealand. Practice before the Land and Titles Court is different in character from ordinary litigation, because the issues are matai genealogy and customary entitlement rather than statutory or common-law rights.	A fused profession of attorneys admitted by the High Court after a recognised law degree and articles of pupillage; there is no split between advocates and attorneys, and the Law Society of Botswana regulates practice.	Advogados admitted through the Ordem dos Advogados after a law degree and traineeship; notaries and registrars form separate careers on the Portuguese model.

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.