Re-checking normative system coherence

Abstract

Sets of related norms (normative systems) are likely to evolve due to changing goals of an organization or changing values of a society, this may introduce incoherence, such as the simultaneous prohibition and obligation of an action or a set of deadlocked duties. This paper presents a compositional framework that may be used for detecting whether normative systems are coherent by analysing traces of actions and their legality. Unlike other mechanisms for checking normative system coherence, the framework makes it possible to re-check just those parts of the system that have changed, without re-checking the entirety. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.