The Bionic Turn in Legal Epistemology
Some Remarks on the Fusion of Law and Cybernetics, Legal Information and Data, Sources of Law and Hybrid Intelligence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46282/blr.2025.9.Spec.1047Keywords:
Law and Technology, Sources of Law, Bionic Lawyer, Legal Consciousness, Posthuman LawAbstract
The paper addresses how technology, legal informatics, and legal cybernetics can transform the traditional understanding and structure of sources of law. The author wonders whether AI-generated outputs, such as texts, analyses, or decision-making recommendations, can be perceived as a new type of legal normativity. The central concept is the bionic lawyer figure – a person equipped with a digital interface or augmented rationality who acts as an intermediate link between the traditional legal system and technological outputs. The paper also examines the philosophical, theoretical, and epistemological features that led to the synthesis of law, cybernetics, and informatics. The author argues that in a particular situation, advanced legal analytical tools (equipped with machine learning and natural language processing) and data-driven law can acquire the status of a factual source of law, thus creating a hybrid model of new legal ontology concerning a broad spectrum of legal information and legal data.
References
Alvarez, J. T. and Ramírez-Correa, P. (2023). A Brief Review of Systems, Cybernetics, and Complexity. Complexity, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/8205320
Ampère, A. M. (1843). Essai sur la philosophie des sciences. Paris: Bachelier, Libraire-Éditeur.
Bakošová, E. and Vaculíková, N. (2006). Základy sociológie práva [Foundations of the Sociology of Law]. Bratislava: Univerzita Komenského.
Baranov, P. P., Mamychev, A. Y., Dremliuga, R. I. and Miroshnichenko, O. I. (2021). Legal consciousness and legal culture in the era of total digitalization: theoretical-methodological and legal-technical problems. Linguistics and Culture Review, 5(S3), 899-910. https://doi.org/10.21744/lingcure.v5nS3.1665
Bárány, E. (2021). Formálne vlastnosti práva [Formal nature of Law]. Bratislava: Wolters Kluwer SR s.r.o.
Basl, J. (2013). The Ethics of Creating Artificial Consciousness. APA Newsletter on Philosophy and Computers, 13(2), 25-30.
Blaho, P. and Rebro, K. (2019). Rímske právo [Roman Law]. Plzeň: Aleš Čeněk.
Brownsword, R. (2021). Law 3.0: Rules, Regulation and Technology. New York, NY: Routledge.
Bröstl, A. (2024). Artificial Inteligence, Law-Making and Law-Application. In: L. Mezzetti (Ed.), Science, Technology and Law: Mutual Impact and Current Challenges (pp. 85-93). Bologna: Bologna University Press.
Bröstl, A. et al. (2013). Teória práva [Theory of Law]. Plzeň: Vydavatelství a nakladatelství Aleš Čeněk.
Catanzariti, M. (2021). Algorithmic Law: Law Production by Data or Data Production by Law? In: H.-W. Micklitz, O. Pollicino, A. Reichman, A. Simoncini, G. Sartor and G. De Gregorio (Eds.), Constitutional Challenges in the Algorithmic Society (pp. 78-92). Cambridge, UK; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108914857.006
Cvrček, F. (2013). V. Knapp a 50 let právní informatiky v ČR [Knapp and 50 Years of Legal Informatics in the Czech Republic]. Právník, 152(12), 1219-1230.
Chalmers, D. (1995). Facing up to the problem of consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 2(3), 200-219.
Chapman, J. (2019). Why Cybernetics? Why Love? World Futures, 75(1–2), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1080/02604027.2019.1568796
Chella, A. (2023). Artificial Consciousness: the Missing Ingredient for Ethical AI? Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2023.1270460
Deakin, S. and Markou, C. (Eds.). (2020). Is Law Computable? Critical Perspectives on Law and Artificial Intelligence. New York, NY; Oxford, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
Deutsch, K. W. (1963).The Nerves of Government. London, UK: Collier-MacMillan Limited; New York, NY: The Free Press.
Dobrovič, Ľ. (2015). Inštitút societas včera, dnes a zajtra [Institute of societas yesterday, today, tomorrow]. In: Bratislavské právnické fórum 2015 [Bratislava legal forum 2015]: Spravodlivý proces a jeho podoby, garancie a ľudskoprávna dimenzia: zborník príspevkov z medzinárodnej vedeckej konferencie [Fair Trial - Patterns, Guarantees and the Human Rights Dimension] (pp. 587-592). Bratislava: Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave.
Dobrovič, Ľ. (2017). Špecifické modifikácie vymožiteľnosti práva v právnom inštitúte societas [Specific Modifications of the Enforceability of Law within the Legal Institute of Societas]. In: Vymožiteľnosť práva v kontexte vývoja spoločnosti - právne, historické a politologické východiská a problémy aplikačnej praxe: recenzovaný zborník vedeckých prác [The Enforceability of Law in the Context of Social Development: Legal, Historical, and Political Foundations and Issues of Applied Practice] (pp. 89-96). Košice: Univerzita Pavla Jozefa Šafárika v Košiciach.
Fábry, B. et al. (2018). Aktuálne otázky teórie práva [Current Issues in Legal Theory]. Bratislava: Wolters Kluwer.
Fedorov, M. V. (2016). Cybernetic Epistemology as a New Methodological Paradigm of Comparative Legal Researches. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 9(48). https://doi.org/10.17485/ijst/2016/v9i48/90195
Ferrando, F. (2019). Philosophical Posthumanism. London, UK; New York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic.
François, Ch. (2006). Transdisciplinary unified theory. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 23(5), 617-624.
Gerloch, A. (2013). Teorie práva [Theory of Law]. Plzeň: Vydavatelství a nakladatelství Aleš Čeněk.
Glanville, R. (2013). Cybernetics: Thinking through the technology. In: D. Arnold (Ed.), Traditions of systems theory: Major figures and contemporary developments (pp. 45–77). New York, NY: Routledge.
Gregor, M. (2022). Základy rímskeho práva: historický úvod, pramene a subjekty [Fundamentals of Roman Law: Historical Introduction, Sources, and Legal Subjects]. Praha: Leges.
Haraway, D. (2016). A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century [online]. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Available at: http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/warw/detail.action?docID=4392065 (accessed on 27.04.2025)
Harrington, A. et al. (2006). Moderní sociální teorie: základní myšlenkové proudy [Modern Social Theory: An Introduction]. Praha: Portál.
Hencovská, M. and Jesenko, M. (2010). Teória práva pre študijný program „verejná správa“ [Legal Theory for the Study Programme “Public Administration”]. Košice: Univerzita Pavla Jozefa Šafárika v Košiciach.
Heylighen, F. and Joslyn, C. (2001). Cybernetics and Secondorder Cybernetics. In R. A. Meyers (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Physical Sciences & Technology (3rd ed.) New York: Academic Press.
Hildebrandt, M. (2016). Law as Information in the Era of Data-Driven Agency. The Modern Law Review, 79(1), 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12165
Hildebrandt, M. (2018). Law as Computation in the Era of Artificial Legal Intelligence: Speaking Law to the Power of Statistics. The University of Toronto Law Journal, 68(1), 12-35.
Hoefnagel, A. H. J. M. (1971). Cybernetica en Ideologie [Cybernetics and Ideology]. Mens en Maatschappij, 46(4), 322-335.
Ilková, V. and Ilka, A. (2016). Legal Cybernetics: An Educational Perspective. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 49(6), 326-331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2016.07.198
Katz, D. M. (2013). Quantitative Legal Prediction – or – How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Start Preparing for the Data Driven Future of the Legal Services Industry. Emory Law Journal, 62, 909–966.
Katz, D. M., Bommarito, M. J. and Blackman, J. (2017). A general approach for predicting the behavior of the Supreme Court of the United States. PLOS ONE, 12(4). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0174698
Kelsen, H. (2005). Pure Theory of Law. Clark, NJ: The Lawbook Exchange, LTD.
Kerimov, D. A. (1963). Cybernetics and Soviet Jurisprudence. Law and Contemporary Problems, 28(1), 71-77.
Knapp, V. (1995). Teorie práva [Theory of Law]. Praha: C. H. Beck.
Knapp, V. (1963). O možnosti použití kybernetických metód v právu [On the Possibility of Using Cybernetic Methods in Law]. Praha: Nakladatelsví Československé akadémie věd.
Lee, K. P. (2017). A Preface to the Philosophy of Legal Information. SMU Science and Technology Law Review, 20(2), 278-340.
Love, H. A. (2023). Cybernetic Aesthetics. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Luhmann, N. (2004). Law as a social system. Oxford, UK; New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Medvedeva, T. A. and Umpleby, S. (2024). Cybernetics of large social systems: The example of economics. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 41(3), 524-533. https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2991
Ottová, E. (2002). Základy teórie práva [Foundations of Legal Theory]. Brno: Institut Dalšího vzdělávání.
Pepperell, R. (2003). The Posthuman Condition: Consciousness Beyond the Brain. Bristol: Intellect Books.
Petrazycki, L. (1955). Law and Morality: Leon Petrażycki. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Pohl, R. (2017). Donna Haraway’s A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century. Oxon – London – New York: Macat International Ltd – Routledge.
Polčák, R. (2013). Pět tichých minut za Viktorem Knappem [Five Silent Minutes for Viktor Knapp]. Právník, 152(12), 1231-1255.
Polčák, R. et al. (2018). Právo informačních technologií [Information Technology Law]. Praha: Wolters Kluwer.
Pound, R. (1910). Law in Books and Law in Action. American Law Review, 44(1), 12-36.
Prusák, J. (2023). Teória práva [Theory of Law]. Krásno nad Kysucou: Kalligram.
Purge, A. R. (2023). Juridicheskaja konstrukcija kak kategorija kiberneticheskogo metoda poznanija prava [Legal construction as a category of the cybernetic method of knowledge of law]. Pravo i politika, 6, 48-58. https://doi.org/10.7256/2454-0706.2023.6.40900
Přibráň, J. (1996). Sociologie práva [Sociology of Law]. Praha: Sociologické nakladatelství.
Robson, R. (1992). Lesbian (Out)Law: Survival Under the Rule of Law. New York: Firebrand Books.
Rozentaľ, M. M. et al. (1974). Filozofický slovník [Philosophical Dictionary]. Bratislava: Nakladateľstvo Pravda.
Říchová, B. (2014). Přehled moderních politologických teorií: empiricko-analytický přístup v soudobé politické vědě [Overview of Modern Political Science Theories: The Empirical-Analytical Approach in Contemporary Political Science]. Praha: Portal.
Shliakov, A. (1976). Problems in the Development of Legal Cybernetics. Soviet Law and Government, 15(3), 38-47. https://doi.org/10.2753/RUP1061-1940150338
Siddique, N. et al. (2011). Cybernetic Approaches to Robotics. PALADYN Journal of Behavioral Robotics, 2(3), 109-110.
Skansi, S. and Šekrst, K. (2021). The Role of Process Ontology in Cybernetics. Synthesis philosophica, 36(2), 461-469. https://doi.org/10.21464/sp36211
Studnicki, F. (1969). Cybernetyka i prawo [Cybernetic and Law]. Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.
Surden, H. (2014). Machine Learning and Law. Washington Law Review, 89(1), 87-115.
Susskind, R. E. (2000). Transforming the Law: Essays on Technology, Justice, and the Legal Marketplace. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Susskind, R. E. and Susskind, D. (2015). The Future of the Professions: How Technology will Transform the Work of Human Experts. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Šoltys, D. (2021). Repetitórium teórie práva [Revision Guide to Legal Theory]. Bratislava: IURIS LIBRI.
Tsymbalyuk, V. (2024). Sistemnі oznaki objektnogo skladu kіbernetichnogo prava [System features of the object composition of cybernetic law]. Teorіja derzhavi і prava, 45(4), 71-81. https://doi.org/10.37566/2707-6849-2023-4(45)-6
Unger, R. (1986). The Critical Legal Studies Movement. Cambridge, MA; London, England: Harvard University Press.
Večeřa, M. and Urbanová, M. (2006). Sociologie práva [Sociology of Law]. Plzeň: Vydavatelství a nakladatelství Aleš Čeněk.
Večeřa, M. et al. (2013). Teória práva [Theory of Law]. Bratislava: EUROKÓDEX.
Weinberger, O. (2010). Inštutucionalizmus: Nová teória konania, práva a demokracie [Institutionalism: A New Theory of Conduct, Law, and Democracy]. Bratislava: Kalligram.
White, J. B. (1985).The Legal Imagination. (Abridged ed.). Chicago – London: The University of Chicago Press.
Wiener, N. (1962). Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine (2nd ed.). Massachusetts: The M.I.T. Press.
Zimmermann, M. (1983). Cybernetic Aspects of the Nervous System and Sense Organs. In R. F. Schmidt and G. Thews (Eds.), Human Physiology (pp. 315-328). Berlin; Heidelberg: Springer.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Bratislava Law Review
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The Author(s) transfers copyright to the Article to the Publisher of the Journal by the Licence Agreement.
The Author(s) retains rights specified in the Licence Agreement.
The readers may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of all of the Article of the Journal and use them for any other lawful purpose under specified Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
