We present an application of metaprogramming in logic that, unlike most metaprogramming applications, is not primarily concerned with controlling the execution of logic programs. Metalevel computation is used to define theories from schemata that were either given explicitly or obtained by abstraction from other theories. Our main application is a representation of legal knowledge in a metalogic programming language. We argue that legal knowledge is multilayered and therefore a single level representation language lacks the needed expressiveness. We show that legal rules can be partitioned into primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary, and higher level rules. Our classification enables us to define a multilevel model of legal knowledge and a one-to-one correspondence with levels of metaprogramming in logic. We show that this framework has a potential for capturing important legal interpretation principles such as analogia legis, lex specialis Zegi generuli derogut, etc. We have a running example from commercial law that utilizes rules up to the tertiary level, emphasizing unulogiu legis. The example is expressed in a multilevel metalogic programming language that provides a naming convention and employs reflection between levels.

Despite the ubiquity of time and temporal references in legal texts, their formalization has often been either disregarded or addressed in an ad hoc manner. In this paper we address this issue from the standpoint of the research done on temporal representation and reasoning in AI. We identify the temporal requirements of legal domains and propose a temporal representation framework for legal reasoning which is independent of (i) the underlying representation language and (ii) the specific legal reasoning application. The approach is currently being used in a rule-based language for an application in commercial law. 1 Introduction Automated legal reasoning systems require a proper formalization of time and temporal information [40, 29]. Quoting L. Thorne McCarty [29]: ". . . time and action are both ubiquitous in legal domains. . . . " Notions related to time are found in major legal areas such as labor law (e.g. the time conditions to compute benefit periods), commercial law...