The Ministry of Magic Is A Terrible, Lawless Institution

Societies should have laws enacted by democratically elected governments. I hope that’s not too controversial an assertion; it’s basically the key idea of the last few millennia of human history. But unfortunately, the Wizarding World hasn’t learned the lesson.

There’s no massaging it, no equivocating or qualification; the Wizarding World is a lawless mess, completely ripe for dictatorship and governmental chaos. And this isn’t just Voldemort taking over that we’re talking about. It’s the whole system of government.

 

The Ministry can do whatever it wants

 

Remember what happens in Order of the Phoenix? Within the span of a week or so:

• Dolores Umbridge — an unelected Ministry staffer — orders a hit on a 15-year-old boy. She does this, seemingly, just by saying so; she leaves zero record of it; no one else, including THE MINISTER OF MAGIC, has any idea.
• The Ministry expels Harry from school; the headmaster shows up and says “that’s illegal”; the Ministry says, “oh that’s right, we forgot.”
• The Ministry summons Harry to a hearing without informing him of his right to counsel or to present witnesses; he is fully expecting to represent himself.
• The hearing is led by the very Minister who is bringing the charges, the equivalent of if the judge presiding over one of Trump’s trials was literally Joe Biden.

 

 

 

This is banana republic stuff. In this world, the government can do whatever it wants to whoever it wants. Harry ends up doing fine because Dumbledore shows up and just enough of the Wizengamot happens to be sympathetic — but it could have been FAR worse.

 

It actually was far worse

 

We know this because it happened.

Sirius, we learn in Book 4, was sent to Azkaban without trial. Barty Crouch, who was never elected to anything (as far as we know, no one is elected to anything!), ordered it, and it just happened. He gets no opportunity to defend himself, even in front of a rigged court; it’s simply decided.

 

 

 

There was probably a fair amount of evidence in Sirius’ favor! He could have told his story; had his wand and memories examined; and put forward anything else he could have thought of. It’s not easy to prove someone guilty — but it’s easy to throw someone in prison if you don’t have to prove anything.

From everything we read in the books, it’s completely up to one guy at the Ministry to even decide whether or not to have a trial. Hey you, reader — if I were the head of Magical Law Enforcement, I could throw you in jail tomorrow. And if you do get a trial, good luck — you probably don’t get a lawyer!

 

Policymakers are dictatorial

 

This isn’t just about criminal law either. Consider Mr. Weasley.

He’s a nice guy. Works hard. But he’s also given the power to make laws, even though — respectfully — he often has little idea what he’s talking about.

 

 

 

Mr. Weasley seems more or less like the equivalent of a cabinet secretary, empowered by the Minister to issue rules that implement larger policy goals. The Department of Transportation can regulate what hubcaps are made of; Mr. Weasley’s office can regulate flying cars. So far, that’s fine.

But the problem comes at a higher level: there’s no accountability because no one is elected. What happens if Mr. Weasley issues a regulation that everyone hates? Nothing! The Minister can fire him and hire someone to issue better regulations, but he doesn’t have to. If the Minister likes it, as far as we know, it’s there to stay. Good luck.

 

Checks and balances are good

 

The US Constitution limits what the federal government can do; it assigns different powers to different branches; it reserves some rights for citizens, regardless of whether the government likes them or not.

The Wizarding world has none of that.

There’s a Supreme Court that can check the Minister’s power, the Wizengamot, but not really since the Minister is in charge of it. There doesn’t seem to be any constitution restraining the government from doing anything — like, say, directly taking over the administration of a school — but even if there is, there’s no one to enforce it. And if you’re accused of breaking some law that the Ministry has made up, you might get a fair trial — but you might not.

Voldemort is gone now. There’s no war; the lawlessness is boring and procedural, but this time it’s coming from inside the house. The Wizarding World doesn’t just need heroes to vanquish dark wizards. It needs a government that can fairly take care of its people once the dark wizards are gone.