Formalising Arguments About the Burden of Persuasion

Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law (ICAIL- 2007), pp. 97–106, ACM, New York, N. Y.

EUI Working Paper No. LAW 2007/14

Posted: 17 Oct 2007 Last revised: 24 Dec 2013

See all articles by Henry Prakken

Henry Prakken

University of Utrecht

Giovanni Sartor

European University Institute Law Department

Date Written: May 1, 2007

Abstract

This paper presents an argument-based logic for reasoning about allocations of the burden of persuasion. The logic extends the system of Prakken (2001), which in turn modified the system of Prakken & Sartor (1996) with the possibility to distribute the burden of proof over both sides in an argument game. First the (2001) system is put in the context of a distinction of three types of proof burdens and it is argued that the proof burdens of that system are in fact burdens of persuasion. Then the (2001) system is modified to allow for defeasible reasoning about allocations of such burdens within the logic. The usefulness of the resulting system is illustrated with applications to real legal cases.

Keywords: legal theory, logics

Suggested Citation

Prakken, Henry and Sartor, Giovanni, Formalising Arguments About the Burden of Persuasion (May 1, 2007). Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law (ICAIL- 2007), pp. 97–106, ACM, New York, N. Y., EUI Working Paper No. LAW 2007/14, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=998206 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.998206

Henry Prakken (Contact Author)

University of Utrecht ( email )

Vredenburg 138
NL-3508 TC Utrecht, 3511 BG
Netherlands

Giovanni Sartor

European University Institute Law Department ( email )

Via Bolognese 156 (Villa Salviati)
50-139 Firenze
ITALY

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