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 | SenegalReviewed | UgandaReviewed | HaitiReviewed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal family | Civil law (French tradition) | Mixed (common law and customary law) | Civil law |
| System of government | Unitary presidential republic | Unitary presidential republic | Unitary semi-presidential republic |
| Constitution | Constitution of the Republic of Senegal | Constitution of the Republic of Uganda | Constitution de la République d'Haïti |
| In force since | 2001 | 1995 | 1987 |
| Capital | Dakar | Kampala | Port-au-Prince |
| Official languages | French, Wolof, Pulaar, Serer | English, Swahili, Luganda | French, Haitian Creole |
| Currency | West African CFA franc (XOF) | Ugandan Shilling (UGX) | Haitian gourde (HTG) |
| Population | 17,700,000 | 48,600,000 | 11,600,000 |
| Division of powers | A strong executive presidency with a Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, a unicameral National Assembly, and a judiciary in which the Conseil constitutionnel, Cour suprême and Cour des comptes occupy separate apexes. | Presidential system with a Prime Minister, a unicameral Parliament, and a judiciary in which the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal (sitting also as the Constitutional Court) and High Court form the superior courts. | Unitary with constitutionally recognised decentralisation to 10 departments, arrondissements and communes, and to the communal section as the smallest territorial unit. In practice the elected local bodies are largely unfilled and replaced by appointed interim commissions. |
| How law is made | Bills originate with the government or deputies, are examined in committee and voted in plenary. The President promulgates within the constitutional period or refers the text to the Conseil constitutionnel. | Bills receive three readings with committee scrutiny; certificates of financial implication are required for money bills. The President assents, returns the bill twice with recommendations, or it becomes law if passed a third time by two-thirds. | Under the 1987 Constitution bills pass both chambers and are promulgated by the President, who may return a text once for reconsideration. With Parliament not sitting, measures have been issued as executive decrees since 2020 — a practice widely criticised as lacking constitutional foundation, and a key reason to check the current status of any recent instrument before relying on it. |
| Legal profession | Avocats are admitted to the Ordre des avocats du Sénégal after a law degree, the CFPA professional course and a traineeship. Notaires and huissiers are separate regulated professions. | Fused; an LLB, the Law Development Centre post-graduate diploma and enrolment admit an advocate. The Uganda Law Society is the professional body. | Advocates are admitted to one of the departmental bars (Ordre des avocats), most prominently the Port-au-Prince bar, after a law degree and a period of pupillage. Notaries hold a separate public office with exclusive competence over authentic acts including land transfers, which matters greatly given widespread informality in land title. |
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.