@mavu @cstross @Remittancegirl @logomancer It's a problem with multiple layers. On the most superficial level it's procedural: the law has loopholes in it and those need to be plugged. On the deepest level (and there are other levels in between) it's a matter of custom and practice, which aren't codifiable, but have to support "democracy as an ideal".
tl;dr there always have been and will be evil people who are smart enough to sabotage what they don't like, and you need to keep adapting.