LEGAL TECHNIQUE AND LOGIC

COURSE OUTLINE

I. INTRODUCTION:

a. History of Logic
b. The Role of Logic in Law
c. Legal Reasoning
d. Arguments as an Expression of Reasoning
e. Recognizing Arguments
f. Components of Legal Reasoning
g. Evaluating Legal Reasoning

II. FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPT IN LEGAL REASONING:

a. Burden of Proof
b. Evidence
c. Relevance and Admissibility
d. Testimony of Witnesses
e. Expert Testimony
f. Dependence on Precedents

III. BASIC LOGICAL CONCEPTS:

a. Propositions and Sentences

b. Arguments, Premises and Conclusions
c. More Complex Arguments
d. Recognizing Arguments
e. Deduction and Induction
f. Validity and Truth
Arguments and Explanation

Abstract
This article reviews legal applications of logic, with a particularly marked concern for logical
models of legal argument. We argue that the law is a rich test bed and important application field
for logic-based AI research. First applications of logic to the representation of legal regulations
are reviewed, where the main emphasis is on representation and where the legal conclusions
follow from that representation as a matter of deduction. This includes the representation of
deontic concepts, normative positions, legal ontologies, time and change. Then legal applications
of logic are reviewed where legal rules are not just applied but are the object of reasoning and
discourse. This includes arguing about applying statutory rules in unforeseen circumstances,
interpretative reasoning in light of the facts of a case, and evidential reasoning to establish the
facts of a case. This part of the review has special emphasis on argumentation-based approaches.
This also holds for the final part, which discusses formal models of legal procedure and of multi-
agent interaction in legal proceedings. The review concludes with identifying some of the main
open research problems. The review shows that modern legal applications of logic confirm the
recent trend of widening the scope of logic from deduction to information flow, argumentation
and interaction.