Introduction to the special issue: simulation, norms and laws

This Special Issue on "Simulation, Norms and Laws" includes papers concerned with the application of computer simulation, and in particular agent-based simulation, to the study of norms, normative systems (including, but not limited to, the law) and norm-governed behaviour (compliance with norms, their violation, their enforcement, etc.). We believe that agent-based simulation can provide a unique contribution to the study of norms and laws. We also believe that the simulation of social behaviour can profit from the models of norms and institutions developed within legal research, and in particular from those developed within AI & law. With this special issue we hope to stimulate the interplay of computer simulation, legal research and AI (cognitive science) in the dynamic modelling of normative and legal phenomena, and to prompt a reflection on the potential of agent-based simulation for law- and policy-making.