Tech Reports

ULCS-03-006

Towards an Account of Persuasion in Law

Katie Greenwood, Trevor Bench-Capon and Peter McBurney

Abstract

In this paper we attempt to give an account of reasoning with legal cases contextualised within a general theory of persuasion in practical reasoning. We begin by presenting our general theory, concentrating on the variety of ways in which a particular position can be attacked. We then apply our theory to the legal domain, illustrating our approach by a case study based on the well known CATO system. From this we conclude that it is possible to see reasoning with legal cases as a particular instantiation of our general theory. We identify some points of interest for discussion, and conclude by stating our intended directions for future work.

For each technical report listed here, copyright and all intellectual property rights remain with the respective authors. Copyright is effective from the year of publication in each case. By downloading a file from this page, you agree to use it only for purposes of research and scholarship. Any other use of this material or storage of it in any medium or its sale or distribution in any form is expressly forbidden without prior written permission from the authors concerned.