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	TurkeyReviewed	MalawiReviewed	CyprusReviewed
Legal family	Civil law	English common law with customary law	Mixed common law and civil law
System of government	Unitary presidential republic	Presidential republic	Unitary presidential republic
Constitution	Constitution of the Republic of Türkiye	Constitution of the Republic of Malawi	Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus
In force since	1982	1994	1960
Capital	Ankara	Lilongwe	Nicosia
Official languages	Turkish	English, Chichewa	Greek, Turkish
Currency	Turkish lira (TRY)	Malawian kwacha (MWK)	Euro (EUR)
Population	85,300,000	20,900,000	1,260,000
Division of powers	Unitary. 81 provinces administered by centrally appointed governors, alongside elected metropolitan and district municipalities with their own mayors and councils. Local government has genuine budgetary weight in the large cities but no legislative competence.	Unitary with three regions and 28 districts administered by local councils. Traditional authorities exercise recognised functions over customary land and local dispute resolution.	Unitary, with districts administered centrally and elected municipalities. In practice the government exercises effective control over roughly the southern two-thirds of the island; the north has been separately administered since 1974 under an entity recognised only by Turkey, and the application of the EU acquis is suspended there under Protocol 10 to the Accession Treaty. The atlas describes the law of the Republic and notes where it is not effectively applied.
How law is made	Bills are introduced by members or the executive, examined in committee and passed by the Assembly. The President may return a law once for reconsideration; if the Assembly re-adopts it unchanged the President must promulgate it or refer it to the Constitutional Court. Presidential decrees take effect on publication in the Official Gazette but lapse where the Assembly later legislates on the same subject.	Bills pass three readings in the National Assembly with committee scrutiny and are presented for presidential assent, which must be given or withheld within 21 days. Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority, and amendments affecting entrenched provisions additionally require a referendum.	Bills are introduced by ministers or members and passed by the House of Representatives. The President may return a law for reconsideration or refer it to the Supreme Court for a constitutionality ruling before promulgation; if the Court finds no conflict, promulgation follows. Laws enter into force on publication in the Official Gazette unless otherwise provided, and EU obligations are frequently implemented by harmonising statute and regulation.
Legal profession	A single profession of avukat, admitted after a four-year law faculty degree and a one-year traineeship, with compulsory membership of a provincial bar association under the Union of Turkish Bar Associations. Representation by counsel is mandatory for companies in most litigation. Judges and prosecutors form a separate career entered by examination and the Justice Academy, and notaries hold a licensed monopoly over authenticated instruments — property transfers require both notarial and land registry formality.	A fused profession of legal practitioners admitted by the High Court after a law degree, regulated by the Malawi Law Society under the Legal Education and Legal Practitioners Act.	A fused profession of advocates admitted under the Advocates Law after a law degree, the Legal Council examinations and a twelve-month pupillage, with compulsory membership of the Cyprus Bar Association. Many practitioners qualify in the United Kingdom or Greece, and English-language practice is standard in commercial work. Advocates hold a monopoly on court representation and on certifying company documents, and the profession is unusually large per head of population because of the international corporate and trusts business.

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.