←back to thread

Catala – Law to Code

(catala-lang.org)
116 points Grognak | 1 comments | 06 Dec 25 22:11 UTC | HN request time: 0.204s | source
Show context
sublinear ◴[07 Dec 25 00:32 UTC] No.46178080[source]▶
> The aim is not to formalise or put into code all the law, because that would make no sense, but we are interested in the law that is already executed automatically, such as the calculation of social benefits, tax or unemployment.

Can anyone explain why it's believed this "would make no sense"?

replies(8): >>46178118 #>>46178209 #>>46178320 #>>46178385 #>>46178481 #>>46179102 #>>46179190 #>>46179304 #
1. dghlsakjg ◴[07 Dec 25 04:13 UTC] No.46179102[source]▶
A lot of law is based around subjective gray lines. “How would a reasonable person behave in this unique situation?” Is at the root of a lot of legal situations.

Write a function for that, keeping in mind that “this situation” needs to be modeled with potentially infinite variables. Then try to define a “reasonable person”.

Hell, the reason most trials happen is because there is huge grey area, and the written laws are not obvious as to what the outcome should be.