Mathematics and Law

Matemáticas y Derecho

Many of our decisions are based on comparisons with a reference point, which will tell us if something is too much or not enough, and a simple way to do it is through quantification; these quantities help building the conviction we can have when choosing an alternative as the correct one.  The mathematics permeates every area of knowledge, and is needed to solve problems we deal with every day. Students and law professionals tend to resist learning about it, and ignore how useful can math be when making a decision and, particularly, when making a fair decision. It is intended to highlight the importance of having a minimum knowledge about mathematics in law, as a mechanism to find out the truth in facts subject of a legal dispute, essential to achieve a rightful motivation of a court decision. A couple of math problems that involve the law, are elaborated and solved in this paper, warning that, some of them can be solved by intuition, it isn’t always the best way to deal with them. The multiples applications of the mathematics in various legal procedures are undeniable.