Programming Language Converts Laws Into 'Provably Correct' Computer Code

Some legal text is so highly prescribed that it functions like an algorithm. So a team of computer scientist have created a programming language that can capture and execute these laws.

gavel on a keyboard courtroom AI - shutterstock
(Credit: Sergii Gnatiuk/Shutterstock)

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news
 

When it comes to legal dramas, almost every episode rests on a knife-edge of subjective argument and opinion. The law itself is merely the backdrop against which the human drama plays out. Will the jury lean this way or that? The law itself provides no clue, which is the basis of the drama, of course.

On this evidence, it’s easy to imagine that the law is just as unpredictable as the irrational humans who implement, debate and challenge it. Certainly, in some areas, subjective opinion plays a huge role.

But there is another aspect of the law that is quite different. So-called computational law involves ideas that are well defined and situations that do not generally require human judgment. For example, certain areas of tax law. In these areas “law leaves little room for interpretation, and essentially aims to rigorously describe a computation, a decision procedure or, simply said, an algorithm,” says Denis Merigoux and Nikolas Chataing at the National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology in Paris, along with Jonathan Protzenko at Microsoft Research in the U.S.

0 free articles left
Want More? Get unlimited access for as low as $1.99/month

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

0 free articlesSubscribe
Discover Magazine Logo
Want more?

Keep reading for as low as $1.99!

Subscribe

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

Stay Curious

Sign up for our weekly newsletter and unlock one more article for free.

 

View our Privacy Policy


Want more?
Keep reading for as low as $1.99!


Log In or Register

Already a subscriber?
Find my Subscription

More From Discover
Recommendations From Our Store
Stay Curious
Join
Our List

Sign up for our weekly science updates.

 
Subscribe
To The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Copyright © 2024 Kalmbach Media Co.