Intelligent computer evaluation of offender's previous record.

This paper considers the problem of how to evaluate an offender's criminal record.This evaluation is part of the sentencing process carried out by a judge,and may be complicated in the case of offenders with a heavy record.We give a comprehensive overview of the approach to an offender's past record in various countries,considering the two major approaches:desert-based and utilitarian.The paper describes the determination of the parameters involved in the evaluation,and the construction of a decision support system to be used by a judge about to pass sentence in a criminal case.The system may be used as a stand-alone system,but can also be integrated as a component of a general sentencing support system,e.g.a statistical sentencing information system.The system is a knowledge-based system.The knowledge base (in rule-form) was created primarily by eliciting knowledge from experts (judges,lawyers,academics and probation officers),but also by applying statutory law,case law and legal authoritative texts.It is flexible in the sense,that a user can introduce his own preferences (expressed as numerical coefficients) and thereby apply different sentencing principles.The prototype ia at present undergoing testing by some of the participating judges.