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	United StatesReviewed	FranceReviewed	JapanReviewed	SomaliaIndexed
Legal family	Common law	Civil law	Civil law with common-law influence	Pluralist: Islamic, customary and civil law
System of government	Federal presidential constitutional republic	Unitary semi-presidential republic	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy	Federal parliamentary republic
Constitution	Constitution of the United States	Constitution of the Fifth Republic	Constitution of Japan	Provisional Constitution of the Federal Republic of Somalia
In force since	1789	1958	1947	2012
Capital	Washington, D.C.	Paris	Tokyo	Mogadishu
Official languages	English, Spanish	French	Japanese	Somali, Arabic
Currency	US Dollar (USD)	Euro (EUR)	Japanese Yen (JPY)	Somali shilling (SOS)
Population	335,000,000	68,200,000	123,500,000	18,100,000
Division of powers	Strict separation between Congress, the President and the federal judiciary, checked by veto, impeachment, advice-and-consent over appointments, and judicial review established in Marbury v. Madison (1803).	Semi-presidential: the President holds reserved powers over defence and foreign affairs; the Government answers to Parliament. The Conseil constitutionnel reviews statutes before promulgation and, since 2008, on referral from litigation.	Parliamentary government with the Cabinet collectively responsible to the Diet, and a Supreme Court holding the final power of constitutional review.	Federal in form, with member states including Puntland, Jubaland, South West, Hirshabelle and Galmudug. The division of powers was left to be settled by later agreement and remains contested, particularly over revenue and security. Somaliland, in the northwest, does not participate and administers its own institutions.
How law is made	A bill is introduced in either chamber, referred to committee, reported, debated and voted. It must pass both chambers in identical text, then be signed by the President or survive a veto by a two-thirds vote in each chamber.	A projet or proposition de loi shuttles between the chambers; the Assembly can be given the last word. Organic laws and constitutional amendments follow stricter routes.	Most bills are Cabinet-sponsored, drafted by ministries and reviewed by the Cabinet Legislation Bureau, then passed by both houses; the lower house can override the upper by a two-thirds majority.	Bills are introduced by the government or members and passed by the House of the People, with the Upper House participating on matters affecting member states, before presidential assent. Because Article 2 subjects all legislation to consistency with Sharia and no court exists to adjudicate that limit, and because member-state legislation operates in parallel, the effective legislative picture cannot be described as unified.
Legal profession	Admission is state-by-state: an accredited JD, a state bar examination, and a character and fitness review. There is no split between barristers and solicitors.	Avocats qualify through a CRFPA examination and the CAPA. Notaires, huissiers and avocats aux Conseils are separate regulated professions.	Candidates pass the national bar examination, then complete a year at the Legal Training and Research Institute before qualifying as bengoshi, judge or prosecutor.	Advocates practise through the Somali Bar Association and regional bar associations, with legal education rebuilt through universities in Mogadishu, Hargeisa and elsewhere since the 1990s. Many practitioners work across the formal courts and customary forums, since a client's remedy often lies in the latter. Verified current figures on admission and numbers are not available, which is reflected in this entry's status.

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.