Representing visual conditions in a legal knowledge based system

Abstract

Legal KBSs are based on knowledge contained in legal texts such as legislation, regulations and case histories and the practice of domain experts charged with operationalising this legislation. Legal texts and their opertionalisation can be analysed using textual analysis tools which lead to the production of a rule base which can be manipulated to establish a desired goal. In this paper we describe an approach to the development of legal KBSs where the legal texts include visual conditions which do not lend themselves to simple interpretation using textual analysis tools. The approach focuses on the use of preprocessors to generate descriptors derived from the geometrical interpretation of the visual data in question. These descriptors can then be used as direct input to a KBS without the need to include complex mathematics, to which KBS representations are not well suited, within individual rules. The approach was developed as part of a much larger project concerned with the production of a legal KBS to advise the navigators of ocean going vessels on how best to avoid collision with other vessels as prescribed by international maritime law. A fragment of the legislation on which this KBS is based is used as an example.