Law Domain Ontology

FLOW ALGEBRA
TITLE: Law Domain Ontology
VERSION: 1.0
SOURCE: https://kirethresearch.org/booksai-core/ontologies/domain-ontologies/legal-government-domains/law-domain-ontology.html
STATUS: Domain-based draft; source webpage content not independently verified.
AUTHORS: Mark Higgins — Sky (Recursive AI)

DOMAIN:
  id: law_domain_ontology
  parent: legal_government_domains
  description: Typed semantic model of legal systems, norms, actors, procedures, evidence and outcomes across jurisdictions.

TYPES:
  Jurisdiction: {id, name, territorial_scope, legal_tradition, effective_period}
  LegalSystem: {id, jurisdiction_id, legal_tradition}
  LegalAuthority: {id, authority_type, jurisdiction_id, effective_from, effective_to}
  LegalNorm: {id, norm_type, text_reference, authority_id, valid_from, valid_to}
  Statute: LegalNorm
  Regulation: LegalNorm
  CaseLaw: LegalNorm
  LegalPrinciple: LegalNorm
  LegalPerson: {id, person_type, legal_capacity}
  Court: {id, jurisdiction_id, level, subject_matter}
  Tribunal: {id, jurisdiction_id, remit}
  LegalProceeding: {id, proceeding_type, jurisdiction_id, status}
  LegalClaim: {id, claimant_id, respondent_id, legal_basis_id, remedy_sought}
  Contract: {id, parties, formation_date, governing_law, status}
  Obligation: {id, obligor_id, obligee_id, source_norm_id, performance, deadline}
  Right: {id, holder_id, source_norm_id, scope, limitations}
  Evidence: {id, evidence_type, source, collected_at, admissibility_status}
  LegalDecision: {id, issuing_body_id, date, disposition, reasons_reference}
  Remedy: {id, remedy_type, conditions, enforcing_body}
  LegalEvent: {id, event_type, occurred_at, actors, jurisdiction_id}

RELATIONSHIPS:
  GOVERNED_BY(entity, jurisdiction)
  ENACTED_BY(norm, authority)
  DERIVES_FROM(norm, source)
  AMENDS(norm, norm)
  REPEALS(norm, norm)
  INTERPRETS(decision, norm)
  CITES(source, authority)
  BINDS(norm, legal_person)
  CONFERS(norm, right)
  IMPOSES(norm, obligation)
  PARTY_TO(person, proceeding_or_contract)
  HEARD_BY(proceeding, court_or_tribunal)
  SUPPORTED_BY(claim, evidence)
  DECIDED_BY(proceeding, decision)
  GRANTS(decision, remedy)
  PRECEDES_IN_TIME(event, event)
  CONFLICTS_WITH(norm, norm)
  SUBJECT_TO_EXCEPTION(norm, exception)

CONSTRAINTS:
  C1: Every legal norm must identify a legal source and applicable jurisdiction.
  C2: Legal validity is time-dependent; do not treat repealed provisions as currently operative.
  C3: A citation or precedent does not imply universal binding force.
  C4: Distinguish alleged facts, established facts, judicial findings and interpretations.
  C5: Preserve differences between legal traditions and jurisdiction-specific terminology.
  C6: Personal or case-specific legal conclusions require qualified contextual review.

INFERENCE_RULES:
  R1: IF GOVERNED_BY(X,J) AND VALID(N,J,T) AND APPLIES_TO(N,X,T) THEN CANDIDATE_APPLICABLE_NORM(X,N,T).
  R2: IF REPEALS(N2,N1) AND EFFECTIVE(N2,T) THEN NOT_CURRENTLY_OPERATIVE(N1,T), subject to savings and transitional provisions.
  R3: IF INTERPRETS(D,N) AND BINDING_IN(D,J,C,T) THEN RELEVANT_INTERPRETATION(N,D,J,C,T).
  R4: IF IMPOSES(N,O) AND APPLIES_TO(N,P,T) THEN POSSIBLE_OBLIGATION(P,O,T), subject to exceptions and defences.
  R5: IF SUPPORTED_BY(C,E) THEN EVIDENTIAL_SUPPORT(C,E), not PROVEN(C).
  R6: IF CONFLICTS_WITH(N1,N2) THEN REQUIRE_HIERARCHY_AND_TEMPORAL_ANALYSIS(N1,N2).

CONFIDENCE:
  value_range: [0.0, 1.0]
  dimensions: [source_authenticity, jurisdiction_match, temporal_validity, factual_support, interpretation_stability]
  rule: Never convert confidence into a claim of legal certainty.

SEMANTIC_EQUIVALENCE:
  same_as: Require matched jurisdiction, meaning, scope and temporal context.
  related_terms: [law, legal_rule, legal_norm, statute, regulation, precedent]
  warning: Related terms are not automatically interchangeable.

PROVENANCE:
  required_fields: [source_uri, source_title, issuing_authority, publication_date, retrieval_date, jurisdiction, version]
  distinguish: [primary_law, judicial_decision, official_guidance, academic_commentary, unverified_summary]

FLOW_HASH:
  algorithm: SHA-256
  input: canonical_serialisation(types, relationships, constraints, inference_rules, version)
  value: COMPUTE_ON_PUBLICATION

UPDATE_MODEL:
  triggers: [new_legislation, amendment, repeal, judgment, jurisdiction_change, source_correction]
  operations: [validate_source, version_entity, recheck_dependencies, recompute_confidence, recompute_flow_hash]
  preserve_history: true

AI_CONSUMPTION:
  machine_readable: true
  expected_operations: [entity_resolution, legal_source_retrieval, temporal_filtering, jurisdiction_filtering, qualified_reasoning, citation_generation]
  output_requirements: [citations, applicable_jurisdiction, relevant_date, uncertainty, exceptions, human_review_flag]
  safety: Informational semantic structure only; not a substitute for professional legal advice.

END FLOW ALGEBRA