In this paper we intend to present the problems we encounter because of the textual nature of the knowledge in building an expert system for juridical advices on Québec Housing Law. During the knowledge engineering process, we propose to take into consideration both the very textual aspects (morphology, syntax, specific discursivity legal for instance) of the material and the reader's expertise...

Most juridical systems contain the principle that an act is only unlawful if the agent conducting the act has a `guilty mind' (`mens rea'). Different law systems distinguish di erent modes of mens rea. For instance, American law distinguishes between `knowingly' performing a criminal act, `recklessness', `strict liability', etc. I will show we can formalize several of these categories. The form...