Defeasible systems in legal reasoning : a comparative assessment

Abstract

Different formalisms for defeasible reasoning have been used to represent legal knowledge and to reason with it. In this work, we provide an overview of the following logic-based approaches to defeasible reasoning: Defeasible Logic, Answer Set Programming, ABA+, ASPIC+, and DeLP. We compare features of these approaches from three perspectives: the logical model (knowledge representation), the method (computational mechanisms), and the technology (available software). On this basis, we identify and apply criteria for assessing their suitability for legal applications. We discuss the different approaches through a legal running example.