Bex and Walton: Burdens and Standards of Proof for Inference to the Best Explanation: Three Case Studies

Dr. Floris J. Bex of The University of Dundee Argumentation Research Group, and Professor Dr. Douglas Walton of the University of Windsor Centre for Research in Reasoning, Argumentation and Rhetoric, have published Burdens and standards of proof for inference to the best explanation: three case studies, forthcoming in Law, Probability, and Risk.

Here is the abstract:

In this article, we provide a formal logical model of evidential reasoning with proof standards and burdens of proof, which enables us to evaluate evidential reasoning by comparing stories on either side of a case. It is based on a hybrid inference model that combines argumentation and explanation, using inference to the best explanation as the central form of argument. The model is applied to one civil case and two criminal cases. It is shown to have some striking implications for modelling and using traditional proof standards like preponderance of the evidence and beyond reasonable doubt.

JURIX 2010 Slides Available

Slides are now available for many papers given at JURIX 2010: The 23rd International Conference on Legal Knowledge and Information Systems, held 16-17 December 2010 at the University of Liverpool Computer Science Department, in Liverpool, England, UK.

HT JURIX Blog.

JURIX 2010

The final program has been posted for JURIX 2010: The International Conference on Legal Knowledge and Information Systems, being held 15-17 December 2010, at the University of Liverpool Department of Computer Science, in Liverpool, England, UK.

The Twitter hashtag for the conference is #jurix.

Click here for papers from the 15 December workshop: Modelling Legal Cases and Legal Rules 2010.

Click here for information about the invited speakers, who include John L. Sheridan of The National Archives (UK).

Click here for information for conference participants.

We wish our colleagues who are organizing, presenting at, or attending JURIX 2010 a very successful and rewarding conference.

JURIX 2010: Accepted Papers

Accepted papers have been announced for JURIX 2010: The International Conference on Legal Knowledge and Information Systems, to be held 16-17 December 2010, at the University of Liverpool Department of Computer Science, in Liverpool, England, UK.

Invited speakers for the conference have also been announced.

Gordon & Walton on Proof Burdens and Standards

Prof. Dr. Thomas F. Gordon of Fraunhofer FOKUS and the Universität Potsdam Institute of Computer Science and Professor Douglas Walton of the University of Windsor Centre for Research in Reasoning, Argumentation and Rhetoric have published Proof Burdens and Standards, in Iyad Rahwan and Guillermo R. Simari, editors, Argumentation in Artificial Intelligence, pages 239-258 (2009). Here is the abstract:

This chapter explains the role of proof burdens and standards in argumentation, illustrates them using legal procedures, and surveys the history of research on computational models of these concepts. It also presents an original computational model which aims to integrate the features of these prior systems.

Kaptein, Prakken & Verheij: Legal Evidence and Proof: Statistics, Stories, Logic

Professor Hendrik Kaptein of Leiden University, and Professor Henry Prakken and Professor Bart Verheij, both of the University of Groningen, have published an article collection entitled Legal Evidence and Proof: Statistics, Stories, Logic (2009). Here is the abstract:

“As a result of recent scandals concerning evidence and proof in the administration of criminal justice – ranging from innocent people on death row in the United States to misuse of statistics leading to wrongful convictions in The Netherlands and elsewhere – inquiries into the logic of evidence and proof have taken on a new urgency both in an academic and practical sense.

“This study presents a broad perspective on logic by focusing on inference not just in isolation but as embedded in contexts of procedure and investigation. With special attention being paid to recent developments in Artificial Intelligence and the Law, specifically related to evidentiary reasoning, this book provides clarification of problems of logic and argumentation in relation to evidence and proof.

“As the vast majority of legal conflicts relate to contested facts, rather than contested law, this volume concerning facts as prime determinants of legal decisions presents an important contribution to the field for both scholars and practitioners.”

Here is the table of contents:

• Burdens of evidence and proof: why bear them? A plea for principled opportunism in (leaving) legal fact-finding (alone), Hendrik Kaptein;
• The fabrication of facts: the lure of the credible coincidence, Ton Derksen and Monica Meijsing;
• Decision-making in the forensic arena, Ton Broeders;
• Analysing stories using schemes, Floris Bex;
• The evaluation of evidence: differences between legal systems, Marijke Malsch and Ian Freckelton;
• Inference to the best legal explanation, Amalia Amaya;
• Accepting the truth of a story about the facts of a criminal case, Bart Verheij and Floris Bex;
• Rigid anarchic principles of evidence and proof: anomist panaceas against legal pathologies of proceduralism, Hendrik Kaptein;
• A logical analysis of burdens of proof, Henry Prakken and Giovanni Sartor;
• 12 angry men or one good woman? Asymmetric relations in evidentiary reasoning, Burkhard Schafer.

Professor Douglas Walton of the University of Windsor Centre for Research in Reasoning, Argumentation and Rhetoric has published a review of this book, forthcoming in Artificial Intelligence & Law.