Giovanni Sartor is part-time professor in Legal Informatics at the University of Bologna and part-time professor in Legal informatics and Legal Theory at the European University Institute of Florence. His research interests include legal theory, early modern legal philosophy, logic, argumentation theory, modal and deontic logics, logic programming, multiagent systems, computer and Internet law, data protection, e-commerce, law and technology.It
A bounded-reasoning agent may face two dimensions of uncertainty: firstly, the uncertainty arisin... more A bounded-reasoning agent may face two dimensions of uncertainty: firstly, the uncertainty arising from partial information and conflicting reasons, and secondly, the uncertainty arising from the stochastic nature of its actions and the environment. This paper attempts to address both dimensions within a single unified framework, by bringing together probabilistic argumentation and reinforcement learning. We show how a probabilistic rule-based argumentation framework can capture Markov decision processes and reinforcement learning agents; and how the framework allows us to characterise agents and their argument-based motivations from both a logic-based perspective and a probabilistic perspective. We advocate and illustrate the use of our approach to capture models of agency and norms, and argue that, in addition to providing a novel method for investigating agent types, the unified framework offers a sound basis for taking a mentalistic approach to agent profiles.
This paper provides an analysis of how concepts pertinent to legal contracts can influence certai... more This paper provides an analysis of how concepts pertinent to legal contracts can influence certain aspects of their digital implementation through smart contracts, as inspired by recent developments in distributed ledger technology. We discuss how properties of imperative and declarative languages including the underlying architectures to support contract management and lifecycle apply to various aspects of legal contracts. We then address these properties in the context of several blockchain architectures. While imperative languages are commonly used to implement smart contracts, we find that declarative languages provide more natural ways to deal with certain aspects of legal contracts and their automated management.
Final version to be published in n Bongiovanni, G., Postema, G., Rotolo, A., Sartor, G., Valentini, C., and Walton, D., editors, Handbook of Legal Reasoning and Argumentation. Springer.
This chapter provides an analysis of defeasible legal reasoning as argumentation. It first provid... more This chapter provides an analysis of defeasible legal reasoning as argumentation. It first provides a general account of the idea of defeasibility and introduces the idea of nonmonotonic reasoning. It then focuses on defeasible argumentation, considering how defeasible arguments can be constructed and how they can be defeated by rebutting and undercutting counterarguments. The dialectical interactions of defeasible arguments are further explored by focusing on reinstatement and reasoning about priorities. The idea of legal systems as the basis for argumentation frameworks is then investigated. The rationale for defeasibility in law is discussed, along with the possibility of using different approaches, such as revision or probability, to deal with uncertainty in legal reasoning. Finally, an account is provided of the emergence of theories of defeasibility in philosophy, logic, and legal theory.
... K. Wang, Intelligent Condition Monitoring and Diagnosis Systems-A Computational IntelligenceA... more ... K. Wang, Intelligent Condition Monitoring and Diagnosis Systems-A Computational IntelligenceApproach Vol. ... legal language has become crucial in the building of the semantic web: new intelligent ... Decisions in Governmental Process Design 11 Thomas F. Gordon A Use Case ...
In this paper we present an application of argument maps for assessing liability in the field of ... more In this paper we present an application of argument maps for assessing liability in the field of Air Traffic Management (ATM), developed within ALIAS (Addressing the Liability Impact of Automated Systems) project. Such maps are used for presenting legal concepts and norms to lawyers and non lawyers (engineers, software developers and other technical personnel), within the cooperative design and assessment of new technologies for ATM.
This paper studies the logical modelling of presumptions and their effects on the burden of proof... more This paper studies the logical modelling of presumptions and their effects on the burden of proof. Presumptions are modelled as default rules and their effect on the burden of proof is defined in terms of a distinction between the burden of production, the burden of persuasion and the tactical burden of proof. These notions are logically characterised in such a
Proceedings of the fourth international conference on Artificial intelligence and law - ICAIL '93, 1993
Abstract In many commonsense contexts only incoherent and conflicting information is available. I... more Abstract In many commonsense contexts only incoherent and conflicting information is available. In such contexts reasonable conclusions must be derived from inconsistent sets of premises. This is especially the case in legal reasoning: legal norms can be issued by ...
Proceedings of the third international conference on Artificial intelligence and law - ICAIL '91, 1991
This paper examines the relatwn between the structure of legal norms and nonmonotonic reasom ng.... more This paper examines the relatwn between the structure of legal norms and nonmonotonic reasom ng. It is argued that there is need to distinguish two categories of elements in norm conditions: principal futs and secondary f~ ts. Ascertainment of the principai facts is ...
I shall argue for a sufficientist understanding of reasonableness in legal decision-making: cogni... more I shall argue for a sufficientist understanding of reasonableness in legal decision-making: cognitive or moral optimality are not required for reasonableness; what needed is just that a determinationbe it epistemic or practicalis sufficiently good (acceptable, or at least not ...
This chapter puts the issue of the management of parliamentary information in the context of the ... more This chapter puts the issue of the management of parliamentary information in the context of the present trends in the provision of legal information. Opportunities and challenges related to the emergence of the semantic web are considered
A bounded-reasoning agent may face two dimensions of uncertainty: firstly, the uncertainty arisin... more A bounded-reasoning agent may face two dimensions of uncertainty: firstly, the uncertainty arising from partial information and conflicting reasons, and secondly, the uncertainty arising from the stochastic nature of its actions and the environment. This paper attempts to address both dimensions within a single unified framework, by bringing together probabilistic argumentation and reinforcement learning. We show how a probabilistic rule-based argumentation framework can capture Markov decision processes and reinforcement learning agents; and how the framework allows us to characterise agents and their argument-based motivations from both a logic-based perspective and a probabilistic perspective. We advocate and illustrate the use of our approach to capture models of agency and norms, and argue that, in addition to providing a novel method for investigating agent types, the unified framework offers a sound basis for taking a mentalistic approach to agent profiles.
This paper provides an analysis of how concepts pertinent to legal contracts can influence certai... more This paper provides an analysis of how concepts pertinent to legal contracts can influence certain aspects of their digital implementation through smart contracts, as inspired by recent developments in distributed ledger technology. We discuss how properties of imperative and declarative languages including the underlying architectures to support contract management and lifecycle apply to various aspects of legal contracts. We then address these properties in the context of several blockchain architectures. While imperative languages are commonly used to implement smart contracts, we find that declarative languages provide more natural ways to deal with certain aspects of legal contracts and their automated management.
Final version to be published in n Bongiovanni, G., Postema, G., Rotolo, A., Sartor, G., Valentini, C., and Walton, D., editors, Handbook of Legal Reasoning and Argumentation. Springer.
This chapter provides an analysis of defeasible legal reasoning as argumentation. It first provid... more This chapter provides an analysis of defeasible legal reasoning as argumentation. It first provides a general account of the idea of defeasibility and introduces the idea of nonmonotonic reasoning. It then focuses on defeasible argumentation, considering how defeasible arguments can be constructed and how they can be defeated by rebutting and undercutting counterarguments. The dialectical interactions of defeasible arguments are further explored by focusing on reinstatement and reasoning about priorities. The idea of legal systems as the basis for argumentation frameworks is then investigated. The rationale for defeasibility in law is discussed, along with the possibility of using different approaches, such as revision or probability, to deal with uncertainty in legal reasoning. Finally, an account is provided of the emergence of theories of defeasibility in philosophy, logic, and legal theory.
... K. Wang, Intelligent Condition Monitoring and Diagnosis Systems-A Computational IntelligenceA... more ... K. Wang, Intelligent Condition Monitoring and Diagnosis Systems-A Computational IntelligenceApproach Vol. ... legal language has become crucial in the building of the semantic web: new intelligent ... Decisions in Governmental Process Design 11 Thomas F. Gordon A Use Case ...
In this paper we present an application of argument maps for assessing liability in the field of ... more In this paper we present an application of argument maps for assessing liability in the field of Air Traffic Management (ATM), developed within ALIAS (Addressing the Liability Impact of Automated Systems) project. Such maps are used for presenting legal concepts and norms to lawyers and non lawyers (engineers, software developers and other technical personnel), within the cooperative design and assessment of new technologies for ATM.
This paper studies the logical modelling of presumptions and their effects on the burden of proof... more This paper studies the logical modelling of presumptions and their effects on the burden of proof. Presumptions are modelled as default rules and their effect on the burden of proof is defined in terms of a distinction between the burden of production, the burden of persuasion and the tactical burden of proof. These notions are logically characterised in such a
Proceedings of the fourth international conference on Artificial intelligence and law - ICAIL '93, 1993
Abstract In many commonsense contexts only incoherent and conflicting information is available. I... more Abstract In many commonsense contexts only incoherent and conflicting information is available. In such contexts reasonable conclusions must be derived from inconsistent sets of premises. This is especially the case in legal reasoning: legal norms can be issued by ...
Proceedings of the third international conference on Artificial intelligence and law - ICAIL '91, 1991
This paper examines the relatwn between the structure of legal norms and nonmonotonic reasom ng.... more This paper examines the relatwn between the structure of legal norms and nonmonotonic reasom ng. It is argued that there is need to distinguish two categories of elements in norm conditions: principal futs and secondary f~ ts. Ascertainment of the principai facts is ...
I shall argue for a sufficientist understanding of reasonableness in legal decision-making: cogni... more I shall argue for a sufficientist understanding of reasonableness in legal decision-making: cognitive or moral optimality are not required for reasonableness; what needed is just that a determinationbe it epistemic or practicalis sufficiently good (acceptable, or at least not ...
This chapter puts the issue of the management of parliamentary information in the context of the ... more This chapter puts the issue of the management of parliamentary information in the context of the present trends in the provision of legal information. Opportunities and challenges related to the emergence of the semantic web are considered
In the following contributions, authors investigate interconnected aspects of the problem of demo... more In the following contributions, authors investigate interconnected aspects of the problem of democratic deficit in global constitutionalism. The commonly shared question is: to what extent, if any, a global (or cosmopolitan) shift of international law can proceed absent a transnational democratic check? Not all scholars are convinced that this is an actual problem. Many think, instead, that a ‘division of labor’ is to be recognized between national and regional/international legal levels. It is a common conviction for authors present hereafter, that detachment of international law production from constituent will, as well as from a democratic framework, does indeed undermine constitutional legitimacy. Furthermore, it opens to forms of domination that affect also state’s democratic institutions from within. What is the way out from this deadlock? How is it possible to tame global constitutionalism in order to avoid a global Leviathan? The collection of essays here presented attempts to conceptualize some of the central challenges affecting contemporary patterns of legal dispersion and fragmentation. There unfolds a coherent thread which, starting from a modern Kantian understanding of the problem, it moves to the discussion of issues of constitutional pluralism, institutional legitimacy and the risk of tyranny. It follows the analysis of the role of China and the EU, two of the most important actors, even though perhaps at the opposite pole of the global constitutional project.
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Papers by Giovanni Sartor