Matthew Waddington
@mattwadd.bsky.social
Legislative drafter. Computational law & Rules as Code - lead Jersey’s Computer-Readable Legislation Project https://crlp-jerseyldo.github.io/ @crlp-jerseyldo.bsky.social
Drafting; small jurisdictions; ethics, logic, philosophy
linktr.ee/MatthewWaddington
Drafting; small jurisdictions; ethics, logic, philosophy
linktr.ee/MatthewWaddington
Pinned
Matthew Waddington
@mattwadd.bsky.social
· Aug 24
We've made a demo video of how legislative drafters can produce simple if-then versions of drafts, for automatic conversion to L4. Legalese's visualiser (jl4.legalese.com) automatically turns the L4 into an interactive map of the logical structure of the draft provision. See youtu.be/_VZ4_FY_Nqo
Logic maps for legislative drafters, CRLP2025
YouTube video by Jersey LDO
youtu.be
Here are some results from our work with the L4 team at SMU - getting legislative drafters to produce basic visualisations by showing how to make propositional logic versions of their drafts
#RulesAsCode
#RulesAsCode
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
Very useful & interesting couple of days at LVI2025, Law via the Internet conf www.lvi2025.org/program/ - "Shaping the Future of Legal Accessibility: Improving access to law through legal info, tech & AI” in Sydney at AustLII (Australasian Legal Information Institute www.austlii.edu.au/about.html)
LVI 2025: Program & Speakers | Law via the Internet Conference 12-14 November 2025
Connect with a diverse international community of legal professionals, technologists, policymakers, and researchers.
www.lvi2025.org
November 14, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Very useful & interesting couple of days at LVI2025, Law via the Internet conf www.lvi2025.org/program/ - "Shaping the Future of Legal Accessibility: Improving access to law through legal info, tech & AI” in Sydney at AustLII (Australasian Legal Information Institute www.austlii.edu.au/about.html)
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
📢 We're recruiting! We're looking for a Legal Project Officer to join our team.
⏰Apply by Monday 24 November 2025.
More details 👇
ilpa.org.uk/legal-projec...
🙏 Please share widely 🙏
⏰Apply by Monday 24 November 2025.
More details 👇
ilpa.org.uk/legal-projec...
🙏 Please share widely 🙏
November 13, 2025 at 5:06 PM
📢 We're recruiting! We're looking for a Legal Project Officer to join our team.
⏰Apply by Monday 24 November 2025.
More details 👇
ilpa.org.uk/legal-projec...
🙏 Please share widely 🙏
⏰Apply by Monday 24 November 2025.
More details 👇
ilpa.org.uk/legal-projec...
🙏 Please share widely 🙏
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
🔔 𝐆𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞: 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐚𝐰𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
📅 4, 6, 11 & 14 Nov | Zoom
4 webinars for decision-makers! In partnership with @legalactiongroup.bsky.social & @39essexchambers.bsky.social.
Book now: https://shorturl.pulse.ly/mltceu8krj
📅 4, 6, 11 & 14 Nov | Zoom
4 webinars for decision-makers! In partnership with @legalactiongroup.bsky.social & @39essexchambers.bsky.social.
Book now: https://shorturl.pulse.ly/mltceu8krj
Getting it right first time: Making lawful decisions
shorturl.pulse.ly
September 25, 2025 at 11:00 AM
🔔 𝐆𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞: 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐚𝐰𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
📅 4, 6, 11 & 14 Nov | Zoom
4 webinars for decision-makers! In partnership with @legalactiongroup.bsky.social & @39essexchambers.bsky.social.
Book now: https://shorturl.pulse.ly/mltceu8krj
📅 4, 6, 11 & 14 Nov | Zoom
4 webinars for decision-makers! In partnership with @legalactiongroup.bsky.social & @39essexchambers.bsky.social.
Book now: https://shorturl.pulse.ly/mltceu8krj
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
Very encouraging to see "Public sector automated decision-making" will be one of new projects at Law Commission (E&W)
lawcom.gov.uk/news/law-com...
We published Margaux McQuilton's pre-print report on ADM osf.io/a7jwc
We see logic-driven systems taking human decision-makers to the right questions
lawcom.gov.uk/news/law-com...
We published Margaux McQuilton's pre-print report on ADM osf.io/a7jwc
We see logic-driven systems taking human decision-makers to the right questions
Law Commission Launches 14th Programme of Law Reform – Law Commission
Reforming the law
lawcom.gov.uk
October 6, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Very encouraging to see "Public sector automated decision-making" will be one of new projects at Law Commission (E&W)
lawcom.gov.uk/news/law-com...
We published Margaux McQuilton's pre-print report on ADM osf.io/a7jwc
We see logic-driven systems taking human decision-makers to the right questions
lawcom.gov.uk/news/law-com...
We published Margaux McQuilton's pre-print report on ADM osf.io/a7jwc
We see logic-driven systems taking human decision-makers to the right questions
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
October 3, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
In which we bid farewell to Professor Michael Rush. A kind, generous and gentle man. More notes from @anyaso.bsky.social and I:
ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...
ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...
2025 - Week 36
Work in progress to design data models for UK Parliament
ukparliament.github.io
September 8, 2025 at 5:50 PM
In which we bid farewell to Professor Michael Rush. A kind, generous and gentle man. More notes from @anyaso.bsky.social and I:
ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...
ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
the professionalisation of legislative drafting (only 150 years or so in the UK) and the unlikely nature of any oversight.
Implied repeal is an argument of last resort. If made it indicates someone has no real arguments. Hard to identify the last time such an argument was successful.
Implied repeal is an argument of last resort. If made it indicates someone has no real arguments. Hard to identify the last time such an argument was successful.
August 29, 2025 at 2:51 PM
the professionalisation of legislative drafting (only 150 years or so in the UK) and the unlikely nature of any oversight.
Implied repeal is an argument of last resort. If made it indicates someone has no real arguments. Hard to identify the last time such an argument was successful.
Implied repeal is an argument of last resort. If made it indicates someone has no real arguments. Hard to identify the last time such an argument was successful.
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
This is the first time I have seen L4 running in the wild, which is exciting.
I have some thoughts...
I have some thoughts...
Here are some results from our work with the L4 team at SMU - getting legislative drafters to produce basic visualisations by showing how to make propositional logic versions of their drafts
#RulesAsCode
#RulesAsCode
We've made a demo video of how legislative drafters can produce simple if-then versions of drafts, for automatic conversion to L4. Legalese's visualiser (jl4.legalese.com) automatically turns the L4 into an interactive map of the logical structure of the draft provision. See youtu.be/_VZ4_FY_Nqo
August 25, 2025 at 5:09 AM
This is the first time I have seen L4 running in the wild, which is exciting.
I have some thoughts...
I have some thoughts...
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
A wee bank holiday treat for you guys. More week - well, fortnight - notes from @anyaso.bsky.social and I. In which we approached ramming speed, only to collide head-on with documentation buffers. Rescued in part by the kindness of strangers
ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...
ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...
2025 - Week 34
Work in progress to design data models for UK Parliament
ukparliament.github.io
August 25, 2025 at 7:31 PM
A wee bank holiday treat for you guys. More week - well, fortnight - notes from @anyaso.bsky.social and I. In which we approached ramming speed, only to collide head-on with documentation buffers. Rescued in part by the kindness of strangers
ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...
ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...
Here are some results from our work with the L4 team at SMU - getting legislative drafters to produce basic visualisations by showing how to make propositional logic versions of their drafts
#RulesAsCode
#RulesAsCode
We've made a demo video of how legislative drafters can produce simple if-then versions of drafts, for automatic conversion to L4. Legalese's visualiser (jl4.legalese.com) automatically turns the L4 into an interactive map of the logical structure of the draft provision. See youtu.be/_VZ4_FY_Nqo
Logic maps for legislative drafters, CRLP2025
YouTube video by Jersey LDO
youtu.be
August 24, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Here are some results from our work with the L4 team at SMU - getting legislative drafters to produce basic visualisations by showing how to make propositional logic versions of their drafts
#RulesAsCode
#RulesAsCode
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
The last day of ICAIL had a lot of papers directly relevant to #RulesAsCode, and at least three papers about getting LLMs to do the encoding.
A lot of unanswered questions, still, but it seems like some of the design choices I made about Blawx v2 to help codegen were well founded.
A lot of unanswered questions, still, but it seems like some of the design choices I made about Blawx v2 to help codegen were well founded.
June 20, 2025 at 12:15 AM
The last day of ICAIL had a lot of papers directly relevant to #RulesAsCode, and at least three papers about getting LLMs to do the encoding.
A lot of unanswered questions, still, but it seems like some of the design choices I made about Blawx v2 to help codegen were well founded.
A lot of unanswered questions, still, but it seems like some of the design choices I made about Blawx v2 to help codegen were well founded.
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
☀️ We’re here too - getting ready for the 7th NLLP workshop (8/Nov @emnlpmeeting.bsky.social ) 🚀✨
The updated Call for Papers is coming soon — stay tuned! 📣📄
💙 Follow us & spread the word about NLLP🌍💬
🔗 Keep an eye on the website for updates! 🖥️🔍 nllpw.org/workshop/
#NLLP #legaltech #nlproc #nlp
The updated Call for Papers is coming soon — stay tuned! 📣📄
💙 Follow us & spread the word about NLLP🌍💬
🔗 Keep an eye on the website for updates! 🖥️🔍 nllpw.org/workshop/
#NLLP #legaltech #nlproc #nlp
NLLP Workshop 2025
The seventh workshop on Natural Legal Language Processing (NLLP 2025) explores methods and applications of Natural Language Processing for the Legal Domain by focusing on legal text and text with lega...
nllpw.org
June 15, 2025 at 12:42 PM
☀️ We’re here too - getting ready for the 7th NLLP workshop (8/Nov @emnlpmeeting.bsky.social ) 🚀✨
The updated Call for Papers is coming soon — stay tuned! 📣📄
💙 Follow us & spread the word about NLLP🌍💬
🔗 Keep an eye on the website for updates! 🖥️🔍 nllpw.org/workshop/
#NLLP #legaltech #nlproc #nlp
The updated Call for Papers is coming soon — stay tuned! 📣📄
💙 Follow us & spread the word about NLLP🌍💬
🔗 Keep an eye on the website for updates! 🖥️🔍 nllpw.org/workshop/
#NLLP #legaltech #nlproc #nlp
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
This afternoon we will host a Work-in-Progress session with visiting PhD candidate Filipa Paes (University of Oxford), who will be presenting a paper on ‘Juridical Bivalence’. The event is pre-read, so make sure to get in touch if you’d like to receive a copy! www.law.ed.ac.uk/news-events/...
WiP: Filipa Paes (University of Oxford) - ‘Juridical Bivalence’ | Edinburgh Law School
www.law.ed.ac.uk
April 24, 2025 at 9:17 AM
This afternoon we will host a Work-in-Progress session with visiting PhD candidate Filipa Paes (University of Oxford), who will be presenting a paper on ‘Juridical Bivalence’. The event is pre-read, so make sure to get in touch if you’d like to receive a copy! www.law.ed.ac.uk/news-events/...
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
This is a really good interview with the fabulous Matt Lynch on Lawmaker - start with imagination not code, he says. modparl.substack.com/p/lawmaker
Start With Imagination, Not Code
Lessons from Building a Shared Legislative Platform
modparl.substack.com
April 24, 2025 at 3:11 PM
This is a really good interview with the fabulous Matt Lynch on Lawmaker - start with imagination not code, he says. modparl.substack.com/p/lawmaker
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
A bank holiday treat for you all. More weeknotes from @anyaso.bsky.social and I. For some definition of ‘week’
ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...
ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...
2025 - Week 18
Work in progress to design data models for UK Parliament
ukparliament.github.io
May 5, 2025 at 6:15 PM
A bank holiday treat for you all. More weeknotes from @anyaso.bsky.social and I. For some definition of ‘week’
ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...
ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...
Celebrating Liberation Day here in #JerseyCI. Very pleased to have bumped into @gillycarr.bsky.social leading historian of the Occupation. Work is under way to put on the web all of Jersey’s old legislation - that will help research into Occupation legislation & government, and postwar reaction.
May 9, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Celebrating Liberation Day here in #JerseyCI. Very pleased to have bumped into @gillycarr.bsky.social leading historian of the Occupation. Work is under way to put on the web all of Jersey’s old legislation - that will help research into Occupation legislation & government, and postwar reaction.
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
👋 A Statute Law Society Conference
'Legislation and the Constitution: Renton 50 Years On'
Keynote speech by Lord Sales, Justice of the Supreme Court.
⏰ 6th June 2025
PLUS pre-conference lecture by Professor Jeremy Waldron
5th June 2025
For more information:
www.statutelawsociety.co.uk/conference
'Legislation and the Constitution: Renton 50 Years On'
Keynote speech by Lord Sales, Justice of the Supreme Court.
⏰ 6th June 2025
PLUS pre-conference lecture by Professor Jeremy Waldron
5th June 2025
For more information:
www.statutelawsociety.co.uk/conference
March 12, 2025 at 12:10 PM
👋 A Statute Law Society Conference
'Legislation and the Constitution: Renton 50 Years On'
Keynote speech by Lord Sales, Justice of the Supreme Court.
⏰ 6th June 2025
PLUS pre-conference lecture by Professor Jeremy Waldron
5th June 2025
For more information:
www.statutelawsociety.co.uk/conference
'Legislation and the Constitution: Renton 50 Years On'
Keynote speech by Lord Sales, Justice of the Supreme Court.
⏰ 6th June 2025
PLUS pre-conference lecture by Professor Jeremy Waldron
5th June 2025
For more information:
www.statutelawsociety.co.uk/conference
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
6/ The Bill - the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill - has now been published - 90 minutes before the debate in the Commons starts at 11am. Comprises 10 clauses over 5 pages of text.
www.gov.uk/government/p...
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill
Draft legislation to protect the UK steel industry.
www.gov.uk
April 12, 2025 at 8:59 AM
6/ The Bill - the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill - has now been published - 90 minutes before the debate in the Commons starts at 11am. Comprises 10 clauses over 5 pages of text.
www.gov.uk/government/p...
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
We write prose and code to help us think. With the side benefit that the prose might be read, and the code might be read by a computer. Legislation as an interesting overlap?
March 28, 2025 at 9:57 AM
We write prose and code to help us think. With the side benefit that the prose might be read, and the code might be read by a computer. Legislation as an interesting overlap?
A break from digitising legislation-
Out now, book chapter on Brexit's effects on UK/EU's constitutional/legal relations with Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man) & 14 last British Overseas Territories (incl Gibraltar & Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus)
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
Out now, book chapter on Brexit's effects on UK/EU's constitutional/legal relations with Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man) & 14 last British Overseas Territories (incl Gibraltar & Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus)
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
New Relationships for the Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories
Brexit’s effects were felt not just between the UK and EU but also had profound effects in other jurisdictions with special relationships to the UK. The Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey and ...
link.springer.com
March 31, 2025 at 10:33 AM
A break from digitising legislation-
Out now, book chapter on Brexit's effects on UK/EU's constitutional/legal relations with Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man) & 14 last British Overseas Territories (incl Gibraltar & Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus)
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
Out now, book chapter on Brexit's effects on UK/EU's constitutional/legal relations with Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man) & 14 last British Overseas Territories (incl Gibraltar & Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus)
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
More than 3,300 obsolete laws from 19th century set to be repealed
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
More than 3,300 obsolete laws from 19th century set to be repealed
Laws include proclamations on beatings with sticks and nettles, breaking eggs and an order banning a Daniel O’Connell rally
www.irishtimes.com
March 22, 2025 at 6:43 AM
More than 3,300 obsolete laws from 19th century set to be repealed
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
Emboldened by Vinho Verde, I’m prepared to go one step further. Software is not merely “politics”. It is, to all intents and purposes, the functioning part of the constitution. All else is bells, whistles and inappropriate politeness
March 16, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Emboldened by Vinho Verde, I’m prepared to go one step further. Software is not merely “politics”. It is, to all intents and purposes, the functioning part of the constitution. All else is bells, whistles and inappropriate politeness
"Ever wondered how Jersey’s laws are made?" - of course you have -
www.instagram.com/reel/DHLdDLE...
www.instagram.com/reel/DHLdDLE...
Login • Instagram
Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.
www.instagram.com
March 16, 2025 at 4:35 PM
"Ever wondered how Jersey’s laws are made?" - of course you have -
www.instagram.com/reel/DHLdDLE...
www.instagram.com/reel/DHLdDLE...
Had to do the 5 mile commute into the office again today - lovely weather
#JerseyCI #OriginalJerseyNotNewJersey
#JerseyCI #OriginalJerseyNotNewJersey
March 4, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Had to do the 5 mile commute into the office again today - lovely weather
#JerseyCI #OriginalJerseyNotNewJersey
#JerseyCI #OriginalJerseyNotNewJersey
Reposted by Matthew Waddington
🔸Demos of logic maps & other visualisations - work with SMU Centre for Digital Law
🔸Unique IDs for legislation paras (h/t Hamish Fraser) in Word & web, for pop-ups linking words to definitions (incl in Interpretation Law)
🔸Using "may", "may not" & "may only"
#RulesAsCode
substack.com/@digitallegi...
🔸Unique IDs for legislation paras (h/t Hamish Fraser) in Word & web, for pop-ups linking words to definitions (incl in Interpretation Law)
🔸Using "may", "may not" & "may only"
#RulesAsCode
substack.com/@digitallegi...
Logic maps, definition pop-ups, "may"/"may not", and more
What we are up to in 2025
substack.com
March 3, 2025 at 9:05 AM
🔸Demos of logic maps & other visualisations - work with SMU Centre for Digital Law
🔸Unique IDs for legislation paras (h/t Hamish Fraser) in Word & web, for pop-ups linking words to definitions (incl in Interpretation Law)
🔸Using "may", "may not" & "may only"
#RulesAsCode
substack.com/@digitallegi...
🔸Unique IDs for legislation paras (h/t Hamish Fraser) in Word & web, for pop-ups linking words to definitions (incl in Interpretation Law)
🔸Using "may", "may not" & "may only"
#RulesAsCode
substack.com/@digitallegi...