Hierarchical precedential constraint

Wijnand van Woerkom, Davide Grossi, Henry Prakken, Bart Verheij

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

In recent work, theories of case-based legal reasoning have been applied to the development of explainable artificial intelligence methods, through the analogy of training examples as previously decided cases. One such theory is that of precedential constraint. A downside of this theory with respect to this application is that it performs single-step reasoning, moving directly from the case base to an outcome. For this reason we propose a generalization of the theory of precedential constraint which allows multi-step reasoning, moving from the case base through a series of intermediate legal concepts before arriving at an outcome. Our generalization revolves around the notion of factor hierarchy, so we call this hierarchical precedential constraint. We present the theory, demonstrate its applicability to case-based legal reasoning, and perform a preliminary analysis of its theoretical properties.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the Nineteenth International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Pages333-342
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9798400701979
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© ICAIL 2023. All rights reserved.

Funding

This research was (partially) funded by the Hybrid Intelligence Center, a 10-year programme funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science through the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, grant number 024.004.022.

FundersFunder number
Ministerie van onderwijs, cultuur en wetenschap
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek024.004.022

    Keywords

    • case-based reasoning
    • explainable artificial intelligence
    • factor hierarchy
    • factors
    • precedential constraint

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