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 "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/entities/code-as-law",
 "identifier": "kaal:entity:code-as-law",
 "name": "Code as law",
 "termCode": "code-as-law",
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 "author": {
  "@type": "Person",
  "name": "Wulf A. Kaal",
  "identifier": "https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0757-275X"
 },
 "dateModified": "2026-07-29",
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   "value": [
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 "subjectOf": [
  {
   "@type": "Claim",
   "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/2992962-017",
   "identifier": "kaal:claim:2992962-017",
   "text": "Because smart contracts are coded for computer programming rather than for a human observer, courts may not be able to hypothesize a reasonable human's interpretation of a given smart contract.",
   "abstract": "Because of the emphasis on code for computer programming (and artificial intelligence), courts may not be able to hypothesize a reasonable human's interpretation of a given smart contract.",
   "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Craig Calcaterra, Crypto Transaction Dispute Resolution (2017). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2992962",
   "datePublished": "2017",
   "claim_type": "failure",
   "confidence": "argued",
   "is_failure_mode": true,
   "scope_conditions": [
    "contract interpretation disputes over coded smart contracts"
   ],
   "source_pdf_sha256": "80b92e67594394e38af41b769327936833de8e25d6cf3def966a6ba13bc83d17",
   "status": "current"
  },
  {
   "@type": "Claim",
   "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3071378-006",
   "identifier": "kaal:claim:3071378-006",
   "text": "Smart contracting often makes legal contracting unnecessary because smart contracts emulate the logic of legal contract clauses.",
   "abstract": "smart contracting often makes legal contracting unnecessary as smart contracts often emulate the logic of legal contract clauses.43",
   "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Blockchain Technology and Race in Corporate America (2017). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3071378",
   "datePublished": "2017",
   "claim_type": "mechanism",
   "confidence": "argued",
   "is_failure_mode": false,
   "scope_conditions": [
    "transactions whose logic can be expressed in code"
   ],
   "source_pdf_sha256": "125f01674d13b6bb0310c4be7a20ff538dccbc36ecf352770b3c580028387edd",
   "status": "current"
  },
  {
   "@type": "Claim",
   "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3227967-027",
   "identifier": "kaal:claim:3227967-027",
   "text": "In a digital world trust can be embedded directly in software code, and recent interest in smart contracts suggests this will be a significant growth area in the near future.",
   "abstract": "In a digital world, trust can be embedded in software code. Recent interest in smart contracts suggests that this is going to be a significant growth area in the near-future.",
   "citation": "Mark Fenwick, Wulf A. Kaal, Erik P.M. Vermeulen, Legal Education in a Digital Age Why 'Coding for Lawyers' Matters (2018). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3227967",
   "datePublished": "2018",
   "claim_type": "predictive",
   "confidence": "argued",
   "is_failure_mode": false,
   "scope_conditions": [
    "digital transactions where code can carry contractual terms"
   ],
   "source_pdf_sha256": "f6e13b956f864ab32ec3305d095a35a127770327d75b3688f785cefc437d369f",
   "status": "current"
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  {
   "@type": "Claim",
   "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3405401-007",
   "identifier": "kaal:claim:3405401-007",
   "text": "The inherent mathematical logic of computerized code in smart contracts can clarify the parties' intent optimally, which increases certainty, creates efficiency, and thereby incentivizes commerce.",
   "abstract": "The inherent mathematical logic of computerized code in smart contracts can optimally clarify parties' intent. It also increases certainty and creates unparalleled efficiency which in turn incentivizes commerce.",
   "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralized Commerce – A Primer on Why Decentralized Reputation Verification Systems Are Needed (2019). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3405401",
   "datePublished": "2019",
   "claim_type": "mechanism",
   "confidence": "asserted",
   "is_failure_mode": false,
   "scope_conditions": [],
   "source_pdf_sha256": "bc2d6f0ddc0852fb4085c4543c7c1dec19aaf8745eb67e3acc637e552bd7fb7d",
   "status": "current"
  },
  {
   "@type": "Claim",
   "@id": "https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3808873-019",
   "identifier": "kaal:claim:3808873-019",
   "text": "As code proliferates as law, the democratic legitimacy of coded legal arrangements is increasingly called into question, because private actors have assumed governance tasks traditionally belonging to democratically elected sovereign states and may circumvent democratically legitimized governments.",
   "abstract": "Given the proliferation of code as law, the democratic legitimacy of coded legal arrangements are increasingly called into question. Through code, private actors have created governance tasks that were traditionally the responsibility of democratically elected sovereign states and state actors.",
   "citation": "Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralization Neutralizers (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3808873",
   "datePublished": "2021",
   "claim_type": "mechanism",
   "confidence": "argued",
   "is_failure_mode": true,
   "scope_conditions": [
    "private coded legal arrangements and smart contracts governing online interaction"
   ],
   "source_pdf_sha256": "f11493915e6b8c266d421510b5546816e33defb5650aac9d09b20d78549da727",
   "status": "current"
  }
 ],
 "description": "5 claims in the published works of Wulf A. Kaal carry the concept tag 'code-as-law'. Derived node: a roster, not an adjudicated definition."
}