SOME EXAMPLES OF USING THE LEGAL RELATIONS LANGUAGE IN THE LEGAL DOMAIN: APPLIED DEONTICLOGIC

The fundamental concept of the LEGAL RELATIONS Language (LRL) is the recursively-defined notion of LEGAL RELATION (LR). As LR is de fined here, there is an infinite number of different LEGAL RELATIONS, and LRL is a language for precisely and completely describing each of those infinite number of different LEGAL RELATIONS. With its robust collec tion of different names, one for each of the different LEGAL RELATIONS, LRL provides adequate vocabulary for (1) describing every possible legal state of affairs, (2) accounting for every possible change from one legal state of affairs to another, (3) representing every possible legal rule, and (4) repre senting every possible legal argument. There are presented here some illustra tions of how LRL can be used by lawyers, law students, judges, and expert system-builders to demonstrate how the systems crafted by deontic logicians can be applied in the legal domain. I. Introduction [br n:dia1,l(.10,.10)] [insert Diagram 1 here] The infinite number of different LEGAL RELATIONS that can be expressed in the LEGAL RELATIONS Language (LRL) give LRL extraordinary expressive capability. It not only fulfills Hohfeld's dream of achieving the "lowest common denominators" of legal dis course capable of (1) describing every possible legal state of affairs, and (2) accounting for every change in every legal state of affairs, 1 but LRL can also be used (3) to represent every possible legal set of rules and (4) to represent every possible legal argument. This is a claim about LRL's expressive capability that is not ...