During Harry Potter's fourth-year summer holiday, he encountered Dementors and was forced to attend a hearing as an underage child.
Fudge had no sympathy for Harry. He only wanted to drive Harry out of the Wizarding World, as if that would restore life to normal, regardless of the facts.
Harry Potter had been vulnerable then. He had needed an adult's protection.
Many people believed that grand juries had originally been established to protect citizens from unjust prosecution, but in reality, grand juries could easily become tools of prosecutors. Groups were easily led astray; individual intelligence could not accomplish much within a group. Moreover, prosecutors were usually the grand jury's legal advisers. Unless there were also lawyers and legal professionals on the grand jury, one could not expect an ordinary citizen who had received a court summons requiring jury service to possess profound legal knowledge.
Fortunately, the Wizengamot was not a grand jury. It had wizards like Bones who understood the law.
Muggle juries, meanwhile, were closed proceedings. There was no judge overseeing the litigation and no lawyers present. Prosecutors, on the other hand, had considerable freedom to summon witnesses and require them to swear oaths.
Were oaths useful?
For those without faith, swearing was utterly useless. The only thing stopping them from committing perjury was fear of legal liability.
Furthermore, witnesses were not criminals. Prosecutors had to respect their rights. Gathering evidence was undoubtedly a contentious issue; otherwise, prosecutors might be abusing their power over witnesses.
After the September 11 attacks, on October 26, 2001, the Magical Congress of the United States of America enacted a law whose official name was "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism." Its English initials formed "USA PATRIOT Act," and since "patriot" meant patriot in English, the