[HPforGrownups] WW law

[manawydan]

No: HPFGUIDX 71433

Mark D:

>The whole hearing left a bad taste in my mouth. Are you sating that
>in the UK the judge can change the time of a hearing w/o notifying
>the accused? The accused does not have the right to counsel and the
>judge could decide against him by merely calling him a liar?

Certainly things like the right to counsel have only come about fairly
recently. Down to the 18th century, it was very unusual to have someone
speaking in defence - the idea was that the judge was there to defend the
defendant's rights and the prosecution had to do all the work to prove the
case. Down to the 17th century, you weren't even allowed to know what the
_charge_ was until you'd pleaded guilty or not guilty. And under the Bloody
Code, if you were found guilty before a judge, the normal sentence was to be
hanged, if you had someone influential to speak on your behalf you might get
that changed to being transported to the Colonies (first America, then, when
you Americans were so "inconsiderate" as to declare independence, to
Australia!) for 7 years.

>Fudge's administration seems full of favoritism, descrimination, and
>outright bribery. Are there no checks and balences against a MoM from
>outright trading favors for gold? (See Lucius Malfoy)

Clearly not!

>I realize that according to the Potterverse we American are not
>considered smart enough to figure out what a Philosophers Stone is,
>but I feel our government makes a littlre more sense.

Democracy makes sense to us. Maybe to the inhabitants of the WW, it would be
totally incomprehensible.

Cheers

Ffred

O Benryn wleth hyd Luch Reon
Cymru yn unfryd gerhyd Wrion
Gwret dy Cymry yghymeiri