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Hermione: "They wanted to examine whatever he’s left us. You had no right to do that!"
Scrimgeour: "I had every right. The Decree for Justifiable Confiscation gives the Ministry the power to confiscate the contents of a will--"
Hermione: "That law was created to stop wizards passing on Dark artefacts and the Ministry is supposed to have powerful evidence that the deceased's possessions are illegal before seizing them! Are you telling me that you thought Dumbledore was trying to pass us something cursed?"
Rufus Scrimgeour and Hermione Granger in 1997[src]

The Decree for Justifiable Confiscation is a law in wizarding Great Britain that gives the Ministry of Magic the right to confiscate the contents of a will if there is strong evidence that illegal items might be passed on in said will. The law was created to prevent wizards and witches from passing on Dark artefacts. It allows the Ministry to inspect the deceased's possessions for thirty-one days, after which they must carry out the will if no dark items are found.

It was under this decree that Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour confiscated the contents of Albus Dumbledore's will in 1997. As the Ministry found no evidence of Dark magic, they were forced to carry out the will in late July. Scrimgeour came to the Burrow personally to speak to Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley and to give them the three items Dumbledore bequeathed them. He used the opportunity to interrogate them, suspicious that Dumbledore had hidden clues in the Golden Snitch, his Deluminator, and his copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard that he left them. The discussion ended with Scrimgeour storming off after Harry berated him for wasting time on inspecting Dumbledore's belongings and covering up a recent breakout from Azkaban of dozens of Death Eaters, instead of helping the Order of the Phoenix battle Lord Voldemort.

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