Modelling law using a feminist theoretical perspective 1

In recent years a schism has become apparent in artificial intelligence and law between those who claim that legal expert systems cannot be built without first establishing a satisfactory theoretical model of law ("purists") and those whose main desire is to build working systems with or without theoretical underpinning ("pragmatists"). Most attempts at finding a jurisprudential model for building expert systems, however, have inconclusively attempted to apply traditional “grand theories” and have embedded themselves in the long standing controversies of analytical jurisprudence. This paper highlights other theoretical possibilities for modelling law which have been sidelined in the AI and law field. In particular, it promotes the adoption of a feminist theoretical perspective on law and legal knowledge representation. Feminist legal critique has a discrete, concrete and pragmatic approach and so may be a good tool for the resolution of the demands of both purists and pragmatists. The paper applies these insights to a proposed child custody expert system.