40 Years of Computing at Newcastle

Department Technical Report Series No. 554

Formal Representation of the Logic Embedded in Legal Language.

M. Heather and B.N. Rossiter.

University of Newcastle upon Tyne. 1996

Abstract

The processing of normative statements depends heavily on the embedding of higher order logic within natural language. This is a prime component of legal computer science that needs a theoretical basis which can be realized in practice both as good science and as good engineering. Scientific rigour expects the use of mathematics, and the engineering element needs that mathematics to be constructive. Theoretical computer science has recently seen developments in constructive mathematics satisfying these principles with the use of category theory. An example of this formalism is used to represent the normative statement:

John gives Mary the ring and title passes on delivery

and to show by the use of the adjoint functor theorem the integration of law and logic embedded in natural language as needed in legal computer science.

Department Technical Report Series - 1996
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Technical Report Abstract No. 554, 30 June 1997