Legal events interfering with the status of requirements

TO BE CONSIDERED FOR FUTURE RELEASE 1.0.0

Introduction

This change request proposes the introduction of pattern for representing legal events (such as suspensions, derogations, sunset clauses, etc.) that alter the status or applicability of requirements, together with the addition of a hasStatus property at the Requirement level. The goal is to enable the RRMV model to accurately capture the dynamic validity of legal obligations and support queries about their current state.

Current Model

In the current model, the Requirement class represents mandates arising from legal sources, and the Action class represents the acts resulting from those requirements. The Status class is available to describe the legal status of actions, but there is no way to specify the current status of a requirement itself, nor to represent legal events that modify a requirement’s status over time.

Proposed Change

1. New class: LegalEvent (or a more suitable one, possibly reused from existing legal ontologies) representing a legal occurrence (e.g. suspension, derogation, sunset clause) that affects the status (binding-value) of a requirement.

2. New Property: affectsStatus (or a more appropriate name) property that links the event to the requirement(s) whose status or applicability it modifies.

3. Extension of the property hasStatus to the requirement. The property that is currently available for action will be extended so that it can also be used for requirement. This would enable assignment and querying of a requirement’s current legal status (e.g. in force, partially in force, suspended, derogated).

These changes will allow the model to represent the effect of legal events on requirements, supporting the expression and tracking of periods during which obligations are suspended, derogated, or subject to sunset clauses. This enhances the ability to perform "compliance checking" and to answer questions about the current or historical applicability of legal requirements.

Example

Suppose a requirement to submit an annual report is suspended from January 1, 2026, to March 31, 2026 due to a legal event.

A LegalEvent of type "suspension" is created, linked to the requirement via affectsStatusOf. The requirement’s hasStatus property is set to "suspended" for the duration of the event. Downstream queries can identify that no reporting action is due during the suspension period.