Country Profiles

The profiles on this page highlight different strategies nations have adopted to deliver justice, including how to select judges, structure judicial review, and meet the needs of diverse populations. There is much to be learned from the experience and innovation of judiciaries around the world.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan is a landlocked country located in South and Central Asia, sharing a border with Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and China. Its population of over forty-one…

Brazil

Brazil is a democracy with a civil law system based on Roman and German traditions. It is the largest, most populous, country in Latin America. Brazil’s diverse population of over 200 million…

Canada

The Canadian justice system has with two official languages (English and French), includes two legal systems (common law and civil law), and affirms Aboriginal rights and…

China

The judicial system of China has many distinctive features influenced by the country’s history and the role of the Communist Party. When the Communist Party of China seized power in 1949, the…

Colombia

The Republic of Colombia is known for its complex political history and biodiversity. The country is also culturally diverse with five major ethnic groups. The Spanish colonized Colombia in 1525…

Denmark

Denmark is a constitutional monarchy and a democracy with powers divided into three branches: the Parliament, the Government, and the Court System. The role of the monarch has been mostly…

Georgia

The Republic of Georgia is in the South Caucusus, situated between Turkey and Russia, with a long coastline along the Black Sea. Its history spans over 2,500 years and the Georgian language,…

Hungary

Hungary is a unitary parliamentary republic with a civil law system. Its sources of law include the constitution, acts of parliament, published governmental and ministerial decrees, and the…

India

The Republic of India is the most populous nation in the world with over 1.4 billion residents. India has twenty-two official languages including Hindi, Bengali, and Telugu and is the birthplace…

Japan

Japan is a constitutional monarchy, with the emperor serving a largely symbolic role. The Japanese archipelago includes over 3,000 islands; its four main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and…

Maldives

The Maldives is a constitutional democracy made up of 1,200 islands in the Indian Ocean, comprised of 18 administrative atolls. Most of the Maldives sits less than six feet above sea level, and…

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea, in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, is the world’s third largest island country; it includes the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, where over 85% of the population resides…

Philippines

The mixed legal system in the Philippines includes elements of civil, common, customary, and Islamic law. Legal pluralism in the Philippines can be attributed to the traditions and practices of…

Russia

Following the December 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, a modern legal and judicial system was created. A new constitution was introduced in 1993, followed by modernized legal codes and…

Rwanda

Resting on le pays des mille collines (the land of a thousand hills), the Republic of Rwanda boasts a strong presidency, dual legislature (the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate), and a unique…

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is a monarchy with a strong historical alliance between the nation’s rulers and the clergy. For many years after the Saudi state was created, Islamic law was uncodified and applied…

Spain

The modern Kingdom of Spain is a parliamentary monarchy which follows the European continental legal tradition. Although the majority of Spain’s territory is on the Iberian Peninsula, it also…

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is an island nation south of India. It is known as the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean” because of its natural beauty, including lush forests, coastline, and vast tea…

Turkey

After the collapse of the Ottoman empire in the 1920s, Turkey was founded as a secular constitutional republic. Although Islam is the dominant religion practiced in Turkey, its government is…

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is a monarchy: the head of state is an unelected position, occupied by virtue of birth. The British monarch has been a mostly ceremonial figure since the mid-17th century, but…

United States

The Constitution of the United States (1789) is one of the oldest written constitutions in the world; it is also among the shortest at only four pages. The US constitution sets forth a federal…

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is located at the crossroads of Central Asia and the Middle East. It was the heart of the ancient Silk Road, the commercial link between Europe and Asia from the 2nd century BC into the…

Vietnam

National policy in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is established by the Vietnam Communist Party which convenes a Party congress every five years. The National Assembly is the highest organ of…