Legal Dynamics

摘要

One of the areas barely investigated by system dynamicists is the law. Although thismay seem understandable, there are intriguing dynamic aspects in legal systems andparticularly in the field of the administration of justice. In order to investigate whether alegal procedure could be modelled from a system dynamics perspective and to seewhether this could lead to deeper insights into the mechanisms beyond the existingmethod of ‘trial and error’, the Dutch asylum procedure over the period 1980-2002 wasmodelled. This paper describes the results of this study revealing unprecedentedfeedback loops implying the need for further research of the internal effects of legalprocedures i.e. the need for a system dynamic approach of the law, or stated otherwise,the existence of a new approach: legal dynamics.