Law and Computing

By K. Ramanraj

Table of contents:

The vision of Charles Babbage, the world's first software developer:

Law and Computing are one and the same at the core. The connection between law and computing is much closer than the connection between any other two different fields of endeavour. It is no coincidence that computing manuals frequently give examples from the field of law to illustrate computing concepts. The world's first software developer, Charles Babbage, himself had started this trend as early as in 1864:

"In 1840 I received from my friend M. Plana a letter pressing me strongly to visit Turin at the then approaching meeting of Italian philosophers. In that letter M. Plana stated that he had inquired anxiously of many of my countrymen about the power and mechanism of the Analytical Engine. He remarked that from all the information he could collect the case seemed to stand thus:--

"Hitherto the legislative department of our analysis has been all powerful--the executive all feeble.
"Your engine seems to give us the same control over the executive which we have hitherto only possessed over the legislative department."

Considering the exceedingly limited information which could have reached my friend respecting the Analytical Engine, I was equally surprised and delighted at his exact prevision of its powers. Even at the present moment I could not express more clearly, and in fewer terms, its real object. I collected together such of my models, drawings, and notations as I conceived to be best adapted to give an insight into the principles and mode of operating of the Analytical Engine.1"

The analogy of Charles Babbage to explain the concepts and principles of an Analytical Engine using the organs of government is not casual but speaks about the extraordinary vision of what is ultimately possible with the Analytical Engine. The real object of the Analytical Engine was control of the executive. It is no coincidence in computing that "source code" is compiled into "executables" or object code. Writing the source code is like legislation or law making itself, and executing the laws in the source code by running the program or object code is execution, very much like the executive department as understood in law. The word "code" itself is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "Systematic collection of statutes, body of laws so arranged as to vaoid inconsistency & overlapping". The use of the word code to refer to instructions written in computing languages is deliberate and well intentioned. The usage of several common words itself indicates the close connection in function and operation between law and computing. If all legislative laws are executed with the aid of computers, it would be another fitting tribute to the vision and foresight of Charles Babbage, particularly in the light of his experience with the British Parliament. The original vision is coming around with names like ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), e-gov (e-Governance) and many other novel names.

Though Charles Babbage did not have the hardware necessary to build the Analytical Engine, his theories on software are accurate and correct even today. Computing aids law primarily by giving life to the law

We have seen that the real object of the Analytical Engine or computing, as Charles Babbage puts, is control of the executive. At this juncture, while studying law and computing together, we can do well to lay down the primary and real object of law also. Most constitutions of nations proclaim justice and peace to be the objectives of their laws.

As we progress, we tend to take many things for granted. But, let us beware that nothing can be taken for granted. The concept of zero in mathematics can be traced to ancient Hindus who indicated zero by a small circle and called it Sunya in Sanskrit meaning vacant. Even the equal to symbol = was invented in 1557 by Robert Recorde, the mathematician, who reasoned that two equal length parallel lines were as equal as anything available. The life of Charles Babbage should be read in full to appreciate his contribution to computing. Concepts and freedoms enjoyed under law also evolved after long and sustained struggle. Many eminent lawyers argued for judicial review, but ultimately succeeded only in Marbury v. Madison. Law and computing have evolved by the trial and error process. Every science has developed solely by laborious reasoning. However natural an invention or artefact may look like, we should appreciate the original labour that brings into existence devices for advancement, never forgetting for a moment the reasoning and purpose behind it.

Where we are today:

As I write this, in the year 2001, the start of the new millenium, law and computing have not yet been wedded formally. They are living together and trying out many things but the marriage is not yet solemnised. There are legal programs, applications, legal databases, libraries in the electronic form that allow quick search, analysis and execution of a few laws but none go to the root of the matter. For example take the sample application included in this site, the fair rent calculator program, which executes section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960. The user feeds in facts, clicks on a button to get an output of the calculation as done under the statutory provisions to fix fair rent for residential and non-residential buildings. The law does not mandate the application or the software script. The user is not concerned with the code written to execute the statutory provisions. The user merely uses the program as an aid or tool, just as he might use a pen and paper or a calculator to do the calculation. The statutory provisions written in english alone need to be looked into, and no legislature, court, executive authority or user looks into the actual working of the software script. But as more and more users use programs and applications such as the fair rent calculator, or other computing software, soon the interest among law makers and the users at large, the citizens themselves, are likely to center around the original vision of Charles Babbage: execution of laws using mechanical devices.

Where it will take us:

Laws are expressed in words. According to Seagle, law is a science that "lives by the written word", and further, "the words themselves have the power to loose and bind", that in fact "the words are the law."2 Each society uses the language it best understands to lay down the laws. In many common law countries, the laws are written in English which is well understood by a wide population. The Constitution, written or unwritten as in Britain and Israel, is the primal and supreme source of laws in a state. If there is any conflict between the Constitution and legislation, the constitution prevails over the incongruent legislation.

A proper porting of law to computers, or wedding between computing and law necessarily will give birth to binary legislation, or legislation written in the language of computing. This offspring will ideally inherit the best of both and leave behind unnecessary junk. But this presents a new problem. We will have one version of the law written in english, and another version of the same in computing language format. To avoid ambiguities, we have to give one version primacy over the other. In the event of an ambiguity, oversight or contradition between the two version, either law in binary legislation is supreme or the law in written form is supreme. Obviously, the interests of law are best served by giving primacy to binary legislation, as computing languages are more accurate, unambitious and understood by both machines and man. The present version of law in english or other human spoken languages should be treated as only guides or manuals for understanding and interpreting binary legislation.

Free software movement and the GPL:

Montesqueue proposed the theory of separation of powers as follows:
Organ of GovernmentTraditional RoleModern Role
LegislativeLaw makingCreating Procedures
ExecutiveExecuting laws1. Conducting Proceedings
2. Creating Sub-Procedures
JudiciaryResolving disputes1. Conducting Proceedings
2. Debugging Procedures
Computer Science specializes in designing hardware and software to maximize control of the executive.

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Notes:

1Charles Babbage, "Passages from the Life of a Philosopher, 1864, Chapter VIII, Of the Analytical Engine. 2>William Seagle, Men of Law - From Hammurabi to Holmes, 1971, Hafner Publishein Company, New York, p. 14.

Copyright (C) 2001 K. Ramanraj

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