Deterministic answer against a generative model
The difference can be tested, not just claimed. Engine legal-answer/1.1.0 builds the answer from registry version legal-2026-08-25, read 2026-08-25. Run the examples below against the API and compare them with what a language model answers to the same question.
Properties
| Property | Source engine | Generative model |
|---|
| The same question twice | Identical answer, rows in the same order. | Wording and selection vary between runs. |
| Source | A row from a versioned registry with statute number and publisher address. | Text from model weights; the source is reconstructed afterwards. |
| Fabricated citation | Impossible: if the row is not in the registry it is not in the answer. | Occurs, and looks correctly formatted. |
| Reproducibility over time | The version number locks the answer; an older version gives the older answer. | A model upgrade changes the answer without notice. |
| Review | Every row can be followed to the primary source in one click. | The chain between claim and source is missing. |
| What it does not do | Does not interpret, does not summarise the legal position, does not advise. | Readily states an assessment even without a basis. |
Reproducible examples
Question
What does the registry say about dataskyddslagen?
Answer from the registry
- SFS 2018:218, Lag med kompletterande bestämmelser till EU:s dataskyddsförordning, in force 2018-05-25. Primary source
- Supervision: Integritetsskyddsmyndigheten (IMYFS).
- Preparatory works: Prop. 2017/18:105, SOU 2017:39.
- Regulations: DIFS 2018:2.
- Guiding rulings: HDO mål nr Ä 9385-25, HFD 2025 not. 30, NJA 2025:10, HFD 2023 ref. 54, AD 2021 nr 23.
- EU link: Kompletterar förordning (EU) 2016/679.
Run it yourself
/api/public/v1/acts/dataskyddslagenThe answer carries registry version legal-2026-08-25. The same call against the same version returns the same rows, in the same order, every time.
Question
What does the registry say about bfl?
Answer from the registry
- SFS 1999:1078, Bokföringslag, in force 2000-01-01. Primary source
- Supervision: Skatteverket (SKVFS).
- Preparatory works: Prop. 1998/99:130, SOU 1996:157.
- Regulations: SKVFS 2013:9.
- Guiding rulings: HFD 2025 not. 38, NJA 2021 s. 99, NJA 2020 s. 497, NJA 2016 s. 169, NJA 2015 s. 811, NJA 2012 s. 826, NJA 2009 s. 3, RH 2008:88, NJA 2008 s. 251, NJA 2005 s. 252, NJA 2004 s. 519.
- EU link: none in the registry.
Run it yourself
/api/public/v1/acts/bokforingslagenThe answer carries registry version legal-2026-08-25. The same call against the same version returns the same rows, in the same order, every time.
How to compare
- 1. Put the question above to any language model without tools and save the answer.
- 2. Fetch the same question from the API address and save the answer.
- 3. Check every citation in the model answer against the primary source at the publisher.
- 4. Repeat steps 1 and 2 a day later and compare the two model answers with each other.
The point is not that a language model is worse at language. The point is that a citation which cannot be followed to a primary source cannot be carried into a matter.
Next step
Three ways to put the register to work in your own practice.
Start with your task
Litigation
Find support in a judgment
Search guiding decisions, see what became final and follow changes in the law.
In-house, deals
Map the rules in a transaction
Move from theme to act and on to the article that carries the duty.
Compliance
Assess the risk in a process
Risk scoring per legal area, with the sources behind every score.
