Separate from muggles (non-magical people), witches and wizards live their lives in secret. Hiding their magic from the non-wizarding community, they formed an entire world with schools, government agencies, and policing forces. Their existence is unknown to muggles as their government enacts laws to keep their identities and use of magic a secret.
Witches and Wizards live peacefully alongside No-Majs (Canadian and American muggles), attending the Calgary Stampede every summer, and skiing in the Rockies during the winter.
Similar to No-Maj Canada, serious offenders in the wizarding world are sent to prison. Across the pond in Britain, the guards of the magical prison, Azkaban, were Dementors (until the fall of Lord Voldemort, when they were replaced by specially trained wizards).
This begs the question: Could Dementors be validly employed as guards of Canadian wizarding prisons?
(For the purpose of this article I assume that all laws enacted in Britain for the wizarding population apply in Canada.)
Dementors have been called the scariest magical creature.1 They feed on hope, happiness, and peace. They also “suck every good feeling, every happy memory” out of their victims. Many prisoners died in Azkaban, or turned insane from the Dementors.
The conditions at Azkaban were declared inhumane from the presence of Dementors, and would arguably breach s. 12 of the Charter: the right not to be subject to cruel and unusual punishment.2
In Canadian jurisprudence, cruel and unusual punishment is defined in R v Smith as “so excessive as to outrage standards of decency”, or “grossly disproportionate to what would have been appropriate.”3 The Court in Smith and later cases, provide guides to measure whether the punishment was proportional. Some of these include the the person’s characteristics, the seriousness of the crime, the objectives of the punishment, and how the individual would be impacted.4
Importantly, Canadian courts have made note that the test for a cruel and unusual punishment is deferential to the government and a finding of cruel and unusual should be rare.5
In Azkaban, all prisoners regardless of the crime are subject to the Dementors and their effects. This in-and-of-itself indicates that proportionality is an issue; the seriousness of the crime is not considered at all when prisoners are sent to Azkaban as they are subject to the same Dementor interaction.
In addition, the use of Dementors as prison guards could be deemed a form of psychological torture. Canada’s Criminal Code defines torture as “any act or omission by which severe suffering, whether mental or physical, is intentionally inflicted on a person”.6 Dementors purposefully breed on pain and suffering, driving prisoners to insanity and overwhelming them with their darkest, saddest memories. That most definitely constitutes a form of torture under the Criminal Code.
Torture is illegal in Canada under the Criminal Code, but is also declared cruel and unusual under s. 12 of the Charter. For these reasons and with acknowledgement of deferential judgments, I can conclude that the use of Dementors at Azkaban breaches prisoners s. 12 Charter rights to be free from cruel and unusual punishments.
However, Ministry action that breach Charter rights may be saved under s. 1, a justified infringement. The Ministry of Magic in Britain allowed Dementors to remain as the guards to Azkaban for hundreds of years for a number of policy reasons that must be acknowledged.
First, Dementors must feed on souls. By confining the creatures to the Island on which Azkaban is situated, it keeps them in a controlled area by allowing them to feed on prisoners’ souls. If Dementors were kicked off the Island, many fear that they would head for the cities to find souls to feed on, jeopardizing the souls of innocent witches and wizards.7
Second, they are incredibly effective prison guards.8 Prior to Azkaban’s existence, convicted witches and wizards would be sent to smaller prisons around Britain. Breakouts were common and the magical community feared breaching the International Statute of Secrecy when prisoners escaped and made a ruckus. Since Azkaban was built, only two prisoners have escaped.
Third, Aurors (the specially trained wizards who now guard Azkaban) are an elite group of specially trained witches and wizards. They are the crème-de-la-crème of the wizarding world, and serve to protect. However, their use as prison guards at Azkaban is arguably a waste of resources. These magical people are specially trained to catch witches and wizards practicing in the Dark Arts. They are not trained in prison control or magic outside of the Dark Arts.
However, Dementors have declared their allegiance to Lord Voldemort; they allowed two mass breakouts of Death Eaters in support of He Who Shall Not Be Named. Though he is dead and gone, it is possible that another powerful evil wizard will come along and gain their support.
All this to say, it is not likely that the use of Dementors at Azkaban could be a justified infringement under the Charter given the policy factors discussed above.
Though I cannot in good conscience propose an alternative, Mr. Shacklebolt has agreed to listen to proposals from readers. He is expected to make the trip to Ottawa next week where he is taking appointments.
1J.K. Rowling, “Why Dementors are the scariest magical creatures”, Pottermore (blog), online: <https://www.pottermore.com/features/why-dementors-are-the-scariest-magical-creatures>.
2Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982, being schedule B to the Canada Act 1982 (UK), 1982, c 11, s 12.
3R v Smith, [1987] 1 SCR 1045.
4Smith, supra note 3; R v Goltz, [1991] 3 SCR 485; R v Morrisey, 2000 SCC 39, [2000] 2 SCR 90.
5Steele v Mountain Institution, [1990] 2 SCR 1385.
6Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46, s 269.1(2).
7J.K. Rowling, “Azkaban”, Pottermore (blog), online: <https://www.pottermore.com/features/why-dementors-are-the-scariest-magical-creatures>.
8Ibid.
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