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	VanuatuReviewed	PakistanReviewed
Legal family	Mixed common, civil and customary law	Mixed common law and Islamic law
System of government	Unitary parliamentary republic	Federal parliamentary republic
Constitution	Constitution of the Republic of Vanuatu	Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
In force since	1980	1973
Capital	Port Vila	Islamabad
Official languages	Bislama, English, French	Urdu, English
Currency	Vanuatu vatu (VUV)	Pakistani rupee (PKR)
Population	330,000	241,500,000
Division of powers	Unitary 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.	Federal, with four provinces — Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan — plus Islamabad Capital Territory, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan under distinct constitutional arrangements. The 18th Amendment abolished the Concurrent Legislative List, leaving residual power with the provinces and giving them primary responsibility for education, health, labour and local government. The Council of Common Interests mediates federal-provincial disputes over resources.
How law is made	Bills 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.	Money bills originate in the National Assembly only. Other bills may start in either house and must pass both; disagreement is resolved in a joint sitting. The President may return a bill once, after which a joint sitting can override. Constitutional amendments need a two-thirds majority in both houses. Provincial assemblies legislate on all matters not on the Federal Legislative List.
Legal profession	A 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.	A single fused profession of advocates, enrolled with a provincial bar council after a law degree and the licensing examination, with separate rights of audience acquired by seniority: enrolment allows appearance in subordinate courts, then the High Court after two years, then the Supreme Court after ten years of High Court practice. The Pakistan Bar Council regulates nationally. Bar associations are politically influential and were central to the 2007-2009 lawyers' movement that secured the restoration of the deposed Chief Justice.

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.