The law as a dynamic interconnected system of states of affairs: a legal top ontology (abstract)

In the paper (Hage and Verheij, 1999 [4], extending Verheij and Hage, 1997 [5]), we present an abstract model of the law that is based on two crucial characteristics of the law. The first characteristic is that the law is a dynamic system of states of affairs. The law evolves over time: regulations change, contracts are signed, property rights are acquired, etc. The second characteristic is that the law is an interconnected system of states of affairs. The elements of the law are not independent of each other, but hang together in a rule-like way: stealing is punishable, the signing of a contract gives rise to obligations. Our abstract model of the law can be regarded as a top ontology. Ontologies have recently attracted considerable interest of the field of knowledge representation in general (see, e.g., [3]) and in the field of Law and Artificial Intelligence in particular (cf., e.g., [6]). Motivations for the development of ontologies, or explicit specifications of domain conceptualizations (Gruber, 1995 [2]), include knowledge sharing and knowledge reuse (cf., e.g., [1]). Our motivation to the development of an ontology is to provide an explicit view of the legal domain with the aim to find heuristic guidelines for legal knowledge representation. The abstract model of the law as proposed in this paper can be summarized as follows: