Wizarding Justice, again

[elfundeb]

No: HPFGUIDX 34151

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "ssk7882" <theennead at a...> wrote:
> I agree with Barb, when she writes:
> 
>  > Indeed, we have yet to see a really extensive depiction of 
>  > wizarding justice.  > 
> We have no idea what evidence may have been presented over the 
course 
> of Bagman or Crouch Jr.'s trials, nor what the rules of 
preponderance 
> of evidence might be in the wizarding world.
> 
> And it's certainly obvious that an ugly mood prevailed
> over the proceedings.  The trial was certainly *biased.*
> 
> But we can't really say that it was *improper.*  It's possible 
> that the rules of preponderance of the evidence are just not very 
> strict in the wizarding legal system.  It's also possible that the 
> onus of proof within the system falls upon the defendant -- that 
> it's a "guilty until proven innocent" system.  While both trials
> do strike us as rather dubious according to the Spirit of Justice, 
> they may well have been perfectly within bounds of the legal system 
> itself.
> 
> > 
> It's possible, I suppose, that
> by the laws of the wizarding world, the defendant only gets a trial
> if he *wants* one, or that confession obviates the need for a day
> in court...but I don't quite believe it.  Sirius certainly seems
> bitter enough in retrospect about having been sent to prison without
> trial, and he speaks of it as if it were an extraordinary event:
> an exception to normal legal proceedings, rather than an unfortunate
> by-product of his state of mind at the time of his arrest.
> 
> 
> -- Elkins

I doubt we can examine the manner in which justice was or was not 
meted out to Sirius, Crouch Jr., etc. as a model of the wizarding 
legal system.  These trials were the outcome of a war against the 
wizarding world by Voldemort and his army of Death-Eaters.  History 
is full of examples where governments act to suspend or tighten civil 
liberties during times of war, and based on the liberties granted to 
Aurors to use curses on Death-Eaters, this appears to have been one 
of those times.  Holding suspects without trial, or 
conducting "guilty till proven innocent" trials is justified by the 
need to reassure the public that they will be safe from attack in the 
future.  The capture and prosecution of the Death-Eaters seems to me 
to have had some witch-hunt elements to it, and the trials have the 
air of special, Nuremburg-like tribunals with all of the "good" side 
assembled to pass judgment on war criminals.  Our glimpse at the 
trials in the Pensieve indicates that they were in fact biased:  
Crouch Sr.'s request for the jury's verdict on his son makes clear 
that he was telling them to find him guilty.  This is not what an 
impartial judge tells a jury.   So I would be very hesitant to even 
speculate on the rules of wizarding evidence or the effect of 
confessions on the right to a trial generally based on what we see in 
the Pensieve or what happened to Sirius.

As for Sirius, my conjecture is that he was jailed without trial in a 
big rush to capture the remaining Death-Eaters; Sirius was already in 
custody and he was deemed to be very dangerous.  There were multiple 
eyewitnesses; however, those witnesses were Muggles and it would have 
been very difficult to summon them to a wizarding courtroom, not to 
mention the number of memories that would have needed to be modified 
afterwards (actually, their memories had already been modified, I 
believe, so they would think it was a gas explosion so they were 
probably unavailable as witnesses).  So they shipped him off to 
Azkaban, instead focusing their energies on capturing and prosecuting 
those Death-Eaters with less evidence against them.  By the time that 
was over, I doubt anyone in the wizarding world did not believe 
Sirius was guilty.  So why put him on trial, especially without your 
key witnesses?  Just leave him in jail.  

Now here's another wizarding justice question:  Why can't they just 
use Veritaserum to determine who is and is not guilty?  I know its 
use is restricted, but wouldn't this be a legitimate use for it, 
rather than our Muggle justice system (which could never be fully 
accurate)?

Debbie