Harry Potter and The Law

Magic & The Law

- PARV BAKLIWAL
- NMIMS SOL BANGALORE
- 2nd Year
- 9109104113
- http://linkedin.com/in/parv-bakliwal-7b557920a

The laws and legal system of Harry's universe. So, let us board the Hogwarts Express and
begin our first year at Hogwarts studying Wizarding Law.

INTRODUCTION: -

Magical law is a set of decisions made and authorized by friendly or administrative

foundations to govern behaviour. Magical law is a framework that governs and ensures that
people or the wizarding community as a whole adhere to the wishes of the state.
The International Confederation of Wizards founded the Ministry of Magic in the seventeenth
century, and it is primarily responsible for upholding laws throughout the Wizarding World.
Every country or area has its own Magic Ministry or something like. Harry is reliant on the
Ministry of Magic of the United Kingdom, which is headquartered at a London underground
station.

Muggle (non-wizards) law means The rule of law "a collection of activity or direct rules
recommended by controlling power and having limiting legal power A law is something that
residents must comply with and follow in order to avoid sanctions or legal consequences."
A direct standard imposed over a specified region by a government or society. In order to
control misconduct, business, social relationships, property, accounts, and so on, the law
follows certain norms and customs. The law is controlled and authorized by the ruling
position.
Law has various implications just as various capacities. Philosophers have thought about
issues of equity and law for quite a long time, and a few distinct methodologies, or schools of
lawful idea, have arisen.

Types of Law in Wizard World & Muggle (India): -

The International Statute of Secrecy, passed by the International Confederation of Wizards in

1692, is the basic legal framework in the magical country. This resolution, which commands
that the Wizarding World be hidden from the non-supernatural local region, is the source of
the majority of the Wizarding World's legislation (Muggles).
To further that purpose, the Warlock's Convention of 1709 imposed a number of restrictions,
including the prohibition of Dragon Breeding.
Harry seemed to be having the most trouble with the Statute of Secrecy and the Decree for
the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery (1875). Harry finds himself in situations
where he must practice wizardry in front of a muggle in the Chamber of Secrets and Order of
the Phoenix (and keeping in mind that he is under age).

Notwithstanding the way that the sorcery was done by a house legendary animal as opposed
to Harry, Mafalda Hopkirk of the Improper Use of Magic Office gave Harry a pre-arranged
censure. From that point onward, Harry shows up under the watchful eye of the Wizengamot
(Wizarding Court; favoring that later) for guarding his Muggle cousin from Dementors,
which are dull monsters.

Unlike the wizard law the law in India the law divides the law into five parts:

1) Criminal Law: The police are in charge of enforcing criminal law. Criminal Law
governs situations such as murder, assault, attack, and robbery. Offenses committed
against a specific individual are viewed as crimes against all people, but they do not
fall under the purview of criminal law.
When a house is burgled, for example, the robbery is intended at the person;
nevertheless, it weakens all house owners since their houses may have been burgled.
Because it is considered that misbehavior affects everyone, public administrations
rather than private examiners deal with this legislation.

2) Civil Law: Civil law is a law that looks at non-criminal activities. It is a piece of
legislation that governs debates between organizations and individuals. It covers a
wide range of topics, including criticism, young people's authority, legitimate to
prepare, separate, trade organization enrollment, property questions, ownership
focuses, Copy Proper, protection inclusion claims, and numerous others.

3) Common Law: The Common Law, often known as case law, judicial precedent, or
judge-made law, is a branch of law formed from the legal assurance of courts and
similar organizations. Everyone anticipates that because the character suggests it.
When attempts are made to downsize courts, the example established by enlarged
courts is restrictive. Lower courts may choose to overrule the point of reference;
however, this is uncommon.

4) Statutory Law: A statute, also known as statutory law, is a law established by a

demonstration of the governing body and approved by the chief or administrative
body. Demonstrations are dealt with by the state council and endorsed by the state
lead representative under state law. In unusual circumstances, the boss (President or
Governor) may refuse to flag the receipt or reject it, which is known as a "veto."

Judicial System of the Wizard World and the Muggle (India): -

The Wizengamot has taken over the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Preliminaries
(and at least one hearing) are held in one of the Ministry of Magic's courts on Level 10 by a
body of wizards and witches (formally known as the Wizengamot or, at occasion, the Council
of Magical Law).
The Indian court is divided into numerous tiers in order to decentralize and tackle matters at
the grassroots level. The basic structure is as follows:

1) The Supreme Court, established on January 28, 1950. It is the highest court of
appeal considering both new cases and appeals from High Court judgments. The
Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice and 25 additional justices. The Supreme
Court's power is defined in Indian Constitution Articles 124-147.

2) High Courts, the high court is the highest judicial body at the state level. The power
of High Courts is established under Article 214. In India, there are 25 High Courts.
Only when the State's lower courts are unable to try the cases do the High Courts have
civil and criminal jurisdiction. Appeals from lower courts can also be heard by the
Supreme Court. The President of India selects High Court justices after consulting the
Chief Justice of India, the Chief Justice of the High Court, and the Governor of the
State.

3) District Courts, Indian state governments create district courts for each district or set
of districts based on caseload and population density. District Courts are directly
under the authority of the High Courts, which are obligated by their rulings. In most
districts, there are two types of courts:
Civil Courts of Law (Civil Courts)
Criminal Justice Courts (Criminal Courts)
Judges who rule over District Courts are known as District Judges. Depending on the
caseload, additional District Judges and Assistant District Judges may be appointed.
The High Court hears appeals from District Court rulings.

4) Lok Adalats/Village Courts These are village-level subordinate courts that offer an
alternative to traditional conflict resolution.

5) Tribunals The government has the right under the Constitution to create special
tribunals to deal with specific concerns such as tax, land, and consumer claims.

6) Appellate jurisdiction the capacity of a court to hear/review a matter determined by

a lower court is referred to as appellate jurisdiction. The Supreme Court of India and
the High Courts of India both have appellate authority. They have the power to
reverse or affirm decisions made by subordinate courts.
Case Analysis:

Igor Karkaroff vs. Ministry of Magic

In the case of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Igor was sentenced to court for assisting
Voldemort, but he was given the option of facing a lite punishment if he said who was
involved in the fire and mass killing incident during the world quidditch match.

To relate this to the Indian system, where this process is known as plea bargaining.
In criminal law, it is an agreement in which the prosecutor makes a concession to the
defendant in exchange for a guilty plea or nolo contendere.

Harry Potter vs. Ministry of Magic

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry cast a spell in the muggle world to save
his cousin from a dementor, and casting spells by people under the age of 18 is forbidden in
the muggle world. A punishment for expelling Harry from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft
and Witchery was devised for this. A trial was held for this, and it was determined that Harry
was not guilty because the spell or magic was performed in self-defence.

To relate this to the Indian system, things done in self-defence receive a lesser amount of
punishment or none at all.

To summarise, the laws of the two worlds are somewhat similar, but because they are two
different worlds, there are some differences. It is a good thing that the wizarding world has
made a law that prohibits anyone under the age of 18 from performing magic in the muggle
world because they are not fully trained in performing magic and if they did, there would be a
tsunami of problems in both the muggle and wizarding worlds. In our world, there are some
age restrictions laws, such as driving a vehicle, entering into a contract, or in the case of
property law, and so on.
One essential point in both the world is that both the world’s law aims to deliver justice like
in harry potter in the order of phoenix harry performed a magic spell to save his brother from
a dementor. As the magic was done in good faith to save the life of his brother there should
be no punishment and to decide there was a trial in which harry was proved innocent. i
i
https://lawblog.justia.com/2010/11/18/introduction-to-wizarding-law/
https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Magical_Law