The latent damage system: a jurisprudential analysis

Abstract

This paper brings together the findings of two projects in the field of AI and law. The first of these was a jurisprudential inquiry into expert systems in law sometimes referred to as the Oxford Project. This work in fact originated in Glasgow University in 1981, was developed in the course of doctoral legal research at Oxford University from 1983 to 1986, and culminated in the publication of Expert Systems in Law: A Jurisprudential Inquiry (Oxford University Press, 1987) by R E Susskind. The second project was work on The Latent Damage System, the UK's first commercially available expert system in law. The development of that system has been fully documented in a case study by P N Capper and R E Susskind: Latent Damage Law — The Expert System (Butterworths , 1988), and a copy of the system itself is packaged with the book.The purpose of this paper is to examine the Latent Damage Project from the perspective of the Oxford Project — the findings and methodology of a jurisprudential inquiry into expert systems in law are used to analyse the development and operation of one of the world's first operational systems.The paper is structured in four parts. The first offers a brief overview of the Oxford and Latent Damage Projects. This is not undertaken in detail, as these projects have been documented extensively elsewhere. However, sufficient background information is given so that the paper can be read as a self-contained piece.The central arguments and findings are presented in Part Two, which lays bare the jurisprudential foundations of The Latent Damage System. It does so in terms of the theories of jurisprudence that the Oxford Project established must underlie any expert system in law. Part Three examines the extent to which the development of The Latent Damage System was conditioned by the teachings of jurisprudence. Finally, in Part Four, the users, function and scope of The Latent Damage System are pinpointed.The purpose of this paper is not to demonstrate the power of The Latent Damage System by placing it within a jurisprudential framework. The power of the system is, in fact, best illustrated by running it and assessing its utility in practice. The overriding aim of the discussion here is to consider the relevance of the findings and recommendations of a highly academic project for those whose orientation is that of building real-life, commercial, practical systems.