The British Nationality Act as a logic program
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The formalization of legislation and the development of computer systems to assist with legal problem solving provide a rich domain for developing and testing artificial-intelligence technology.
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The BNAP authors state their goal is to translate the British Nationality Act so that the consequences of the act can be determined mechanistically, and they place their work in the context of other legal expert systems designed for use with real users.
“For in the same text the authors also state (as noted above) that their goal is to translate the British Nationality Act so that”
From Bias in computer systems (1996) · cites this paper as Sergot et al. 1986
Split into 2 atoms — 1 confirmed, 1 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredAt the time of BNAP's initial implementation (1983), no mechanism was built into the program to incorporate relevant case law as it came into being.
“At the time of the BNAP's initial implementation (1983) no mechanism was built into the program to incorporate relevant case law as it came into being [Sergot et al. 1986].”
From Bias in computer systems (1996) · cites this paper as Sergot et al. 1986
Section 50-(9) of the British Nationality Act, implemented in BNAP, specifies that a man is the father of only his legitimate children, whereas a woman is the mother of all her children, legitimate or not.
“As specified in Section 50-(9) of the British Nationality Act itself and imple-mented in BNAP,”
From Bias in computer systems (1996) · cites this paper as Sergot et al. 1986
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Research works printed but not linked: 24
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- Authors
- Sergot, M. J., Sadri, F., Kowalski, R. A., Kriwaczek, F., Hammond, P., & Cory, H. T.
- Affiliations
- University of London (GB)
- Venue
- Communications of the ACM
- Published
- 1986-05
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 370-386
- ISSN
- 0001-0782 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-7317
- OpenAlex
- W2048600620
- Cited by
- 564
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 22
- FWCI
- 201.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Communications of the ACM (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Artificial Intelligence in Law
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Logic, Reasoning, and Knowledge
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › AI-based Problem Solving and Planning
- Keywords
- logic programming, legal problem solving, artificial intelligence applications
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