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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
AttributeVanuatuReviewedGeorgiaReviewedGrenadaReviewed
Legal familyMixed common, civil and customary lawCivil lawCommon law
System of governmentUnitary parliamentary republicUnitary parliamentary republicConstitutional monarchy
ConstitutionConstitution of the Republic of VanuatuConstitution of GeorgiaThe Grenada Constitution
In force since198019951973
CapitalPort VilaTbilisiSaint George's
Official languagesBislama, English, FrenchGeorgianEnglish
CurrencyVanuatu vatu (VUV)Lari (GEL)East Caribbean dollar (XCD)
Population330,0003,700,000126,000
Division of powersUnitary with decentralised administration. Six provinces — Malampa, Penama, Sanma, Shefa, Tafea and Torba — have councils under the Decentralisation Act with delegated functions. Custom land management is decentralised much further, to area-level Custom Land Tribunals and nakamal-based decision-making under the Custom Land Management Act 2013.Unitary, with the Autonomous Republic of Adjara holding its own constitution and supreme council, and Abkhazia recognised in Georgian law as an autonomous republic. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are outside the effective control of the central government, and the atlas records Georgian law as it stands while noting that it is not applied there in practice.Unitary. The state comprises Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique; Carriacou and Petite Martinique have a Ministry and local administration but no separate legislature.
How law is madeBills are read three times in the single chamber and assented to by the President, who may refer a bill to the Supreme Court if he considers it inconsistent with the Constitution. Ordinary bills need a simple majority of members present, with a quorum of two-thirds. Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority of all members; if the amendment touches the status of Bislama, English or French, land, or the republican form of the state, it must also be approved at a national referendum.Bills may be introduced by the Government, members of Parliament, a committee, the representative bodies of the autonomous republics or by an initiative of 25,000 voters. They pass three readings, and the President may veto with remarks, which Parliament overrides by a majority of its full composition. Organic laws require an absolute majority. Laws take effect on publication in the Legislative Herald.Bills pass three readings in both Houses and receive the Governor-General's assent. Constitutional amendments to entrenched provisions need a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives and then approval by a referendum, a double lock that has defeated every reform package put to voters.
Legal professionA fused profession regulated by the Legal Practitioners Act: practitioners are admitted by the Chief Justice and licensed by the Law Council. The University of the South Pacific's law school is in Port Vila, so many Pacific lawyers train in Vanuatu. Practitioners may need to work in Bislama, English or French depending on the client and the court file, and the Public Solicitor is a constitutional office rather than a discretionary aid scheme.Advocates are admitted by the Georgian Bar Association after a qualifying examination and hold a monopoly on representation in criminal cases and, since 2017, in cassation. The Bar is a self-governing body with its own ethics commission. Notaries are licensed and their role in property and corporate acts was deliberately narrowed during the reform decade in favour of direct electronic registration, which is why Georgian conveyancing is faster and cheaper than in most civil-law systems.A fused profession of legal practitioners admitted by the High Court under the Legal Profession Act, after a law degree and the Legal Education Certificate. The Grenada Bar Association represents practitioners.

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.