Comment by evv
8 years ago
> I almost wish we had a formal system of language
You mean "legalese"? The language used in law is very specific and nuanced. I enjoy how similar it is to programming, where a bug in the source language can be exploited, much how imperfections in legal documents can be used as a loophole.
I'd love to see a software system that is able to reliably output high-quality legal documents. If developed in the open, any lawyer could theoretically contribute and help avoid loopholes for everyone. In theory we could build a framework that makes it easy to write loophole-free contracts that are easy for all parties to understand.
> In theory we could build a framework that makes it easy to write loophole-free contracts
You mean similar to how, in theory, we could build a framework that makes it easy for us all to write readable, bug-free code?
Edit: I was mostly being tongue in cheek, but I also recognize that this is about provably correct code à la Coq, etc. That'd be cool for sure. :)
Maybe more similar to strongly typed languages vs weakly typed languages rather than frameworks. Static types, linters, virus scanners, etc.
>I'd love to see a software system that is able to reliably output high-quality legal documents
I think that's what Meng Wong's startup 'legalese.com' is for: https://legalese.com/
He gave a talk about it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlGqifLBsy8
> You mean "legalese"?
No, more so something that could be verified using an interactive theorem prover; e.g., Coq (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coq).
All lawsuits would then consist of running a computer program against the legal "code".
Fortunately in software we can patch in a matter of moments.
Unfortunately bugs written in legalese tend to take years or decades to patch.