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Modeling the Diachronic Evolution of Legal Norms: An LRMoo-Based, Component-Level, Event-Centric Approach to Legal Knowledge Graphs

Created by
  • Haebom

Author

Hudson de Martim

Outline

This paper focuses on the effective representation of legal norms for automated legal processing, specifically tracking the temporal evolution of hierarchical components. While basic conceptual frameworks such as IFLA LRMoo and encoding standards such as Akoma Ntoso exist, a dedicated formal modeling pattern for fine-grained component-level versioning remains lacking. This complicates the reconstruction of legal texts at a specific point in time and hinders essential capabilities for reliable legal technology and AI applications. This paper addresses this challenge by proposing a structural temporal modeling pattern based on the LRMoo ontology. We model the evolution of legal norms as a diachronic chain of F2 representations, distinguishing between language-independent temporal versions (TVs) and specific, single-language implementations (Language Versions (LVs). Both versions are modeled as F2 representations and linked by the R76 (is derivative of) property. This paradigm is also recursively applied to the internal structure of legal texts, which are represented as a parallel hierarchy of abstract component operations (F1) and their versioned component representations (F2). Furthermore, we formalize the legislative amendment process using the F28 (Expression Creation) event, enabling us to trace the precise impact of amended laws on the amended norms. Using the Brazilian Federal Constitution as a case study, we demonstrate that an event-driven architecture can accurately and deterministically retrieve and reconstruct any portion of legal text as it existed on a given date. This model provides a powerful foundation for building verifiable knowledge graphs and advanced AI tools, overcoming the limitations of current generative models.

Takeaways, Limitations

Takeaways:
A novel method for accurately modeling and tracking the temporal evolution of legal texts is presented.
Ability to definitively reconstruct legal texts at a specific point in time.
Providing a robust foundation for building verifiable knowledge graphs and advanced AI tools.
Overcoming the limitations of generative models.
Improving the reliability of legal technology and AI applications.
Limitations:
Further research is needed on the practical application and scalability of the proposed model.
Applicability to various legal systems and languages needs to be verified.
Potential difficulties in implementation and maintenance due to the complexity of the model.
Dependency on the LRMoo ontology.
The reliance on a specific case study (the Brazilian Federal Constitution) requires further examination of generalizability.
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