Is Law Computable? From Rule of Law to Legal Singularity

Markou, Christopher; Deakin, Simon

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3589184

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Is Law Computable? From Rule of Law to Legal Singularity

University of Cambridge Faculty of Law Research Paper

30 Pages Posted: 4 May 2020 Last revised: 6 May 2020

See all articles by Christopher Markou

Christopher Markou

University of Nottingham - School of Law

Simon Deakin

University of Cambridge - Centre for Business Research (CBR); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); University of Cambridge - Faculty of Law

Date Written: April 30, 2020

Abstract

What does computable law mean for the autonomy, authority, and legitimacy of the legal system? Are we witnessing a shift from Rule of Law to a new Rule of Technology? Should we even build these things in the first place?

This unique volume collects original papers by a group of leading international scholars to address some of the fascinating questions raised by the encroachment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into more aspects of legal process, administration, and culture. Weighing near-term benefits against the longer-term, and potentially path-dependent, implications of replacing human legal authority with computational systems, this volume pushes back against the more uncritical accounts of AI in law and the eagerness of scholars, governments, and LegalTech developers, to overlook the more fundamental - and perhaps 'bigger picture' - ramifications of computable law.

With contributions by Simon Deakin, Christopher Markou, Mireille Hildebrandt, Roger Brownsword, Sylvie Delacroix, Lyria Bennet Moses, Ryan Abbott, Jennifer Cobbe, Lily Hands, John Morison, Alex Sarch, Giovanni Sartor, and Dilan Thampapillai.

This paper is the introductory chapter of Is Law Computable? Critical Perspectives on Law + Artificial Intelligence (Hart 2020).

www.bloomsburyprofessional.com/uk/is-law-computable-9781509937066/

Keywords: law, artificial intelligence, computation, computability, sociology of law, legal theory, political science, labour law, mental health law, copyright law, governmentally, algorithms, algorithmic decision making, legal tech, legal singularity, future of work, technological change, singularity

JEL Classification: A10, K00, K10, K12, K14, K31, K34, K36, K40, K41, K42, L51, L52, I18, P37, Z18

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Markou, Christopher and Deakin, Simon F., Is Law Computable? From Rule of Law to Legal Singularity (April 30, 2020). University of Cambridge Faculty of Law Research Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3589184 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3589184