Quantum computing and computational law

Abstract

ABSTRACT Quantum computing technology will greatly enhance the abilities of the emerging field of computational law to express, model, and operationalise law in algorithmic form. Foreshadowing the harnessing of the power of quantum computing technology by the legal sector, this essay targets, with reference to computational complexity theory, the categories of computational problems which quantum computers are better equipped to deal with than are classical computers (‘quantum supremacy’). Subsequently, the essay demarcates the possible contours of legal ‘quantum supremacy’ by showcasing three anticipated legal fields of quantum technology: optimisation problems, burdens of proof, and machine learning. Acknowledging that the exact manifestation of quantum computing technology in the legal sector is as yet difficult to predict, the essay posits that the meaningful utilisation of quantum computing technology at a later stage presupposes a creative imagination of possible use-cases at the present.