Argument Structures in Legal Interpretation: Balancing and Thresholds

Abstract

This paper is a contribution to the development of a descriptive model of legal interpretation encompassing three areas: formulation of interpretive statements, generation of arguments that support or demote the interpretive statements, and comparison and balancing of arguments supporting incompatible interpretive statements. The focus of the paper is on the third layer. A case study is presented to demonstrate how a court uses a technique referred to as ‘threshold conditions’, instead of explicit balancing different values. The nature of this technique will be analysed in the framework of the developed model of legal interpretation. Although the purpose of the paper is theoretical, a practical objective of development of an AI-based legal interpretation support system creates an important background for the investigations.