When Logic Meets Language: The Challenge of Consistency in Contracts

Abstract

Contracts form the backbone of modern economic and legal transactions, yet their drafting is a resource-intensive process susceptible to inconsistencies. This paper conceptualises consistency as a multidimensional construct grounded in information systems, contractual law, linguistics, and logic. Based on recurring elements across these domains, four analytical dimensions are derived, namely formal, interpretative, contextual, and overarching consistency. These dimensions inform a systematic literature review that identifies existing methods, concepts, and technological operationalisations of consistency in information systems. The review reveals that existing approaches predominantly address isolated aspects of consistency and lack a unified conceptual foundation for contract-specific consistency validation. Moreover, the notion of consistency is often defined implicitly and operationalised differently across disciplines, limiting the comparability and integration of existing approaches. The findings of said literature review are used to identify the current capabilities of consistency validation. An integrative framework for the systematic validation of contractual consistency is introduced. The framework synthesises insights from law, linguistics, and information systems to support the systematic assessment of contractual consistency and provide a foundation for future automated validation approaches.

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