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Legal Entity Model Implementation Summary

Date: 2025-11-22
Status: ✅ COMPLETE - Schema refactored, RDF generated, ISO 20275 parsed

Overview

Successfully refactored the Heritage Custodian schema from a flat enum-based entity type system to a comprehensive class-based legal entity model aligned with international standards (ISO 20275, TOOI, W3C Org, ROV).

What Was Accomplished

1. Schema Refactoring ✅

Replaced:

  • EntityTypeEnum (flat 8-value enum mixing informal groups with legal entities)
  • entity_type slot (primitive string)
  • registration_number slot (single string)

With:

  • LegalEntityType class - Top-level classification (PERSON vs ORGANIZATION)
  • LegalForm class - ISO 20275 Entity Legal Forms (3,819 codes, 117 jurisdictions)
  • LegalName class - TOOI naming pattern (3 variants: full, without type, alphabetical)
  • RegistrationInfo class - 4 sub-classes:
    • RegistrationNumber (with temporal validity)
    • RegistrationAuthority (Chamber of Commerce, etc.)
    • GovernanceStructure (organizational hierarchy)
    • LegalStatus (active, dissolved, etc.)

New Slots:

  • legal_entity_type (replaces entity_type)
  • registration_numbers (pluralized, replaces registration_number)

2. CustodianReconstruction Class Updated ✅

Updated 7 slot ranges from primitives to classes:

Slot Old Range New Range
legal_name string LegalName
legal_form string LegalForm
legal_status LegalStatusEnum LegalStatus
registration_authority string RegistrationAuthority
governance_structure string GovernanceStructure
entity_type EntityTypeEnum (removed)
legal_entity_type (new) LegalEntityType
registration_number string (removed)
registration_numbers (new) RegistrationNumber (multivalued)

3. Temporal Model Refactored ✅

ReconstructionActivity.yaml:

  • Replaced separate started_at_time and ended_at_time slots
  • Now uses single temporal_extent slot
  • Range: TimeSpan class (supports fuzzy timestamps with begin/end boundaries)

4. Agent Type Enum Enhanced ✅

Added ontology-aligned agent types:

  • GROUP (FOAF:Group) - Informal collections of people
  • FORMAL_ORGANIZATION (org:FormalOrganization) - Registered legal entities
  • PUBLIC_ORGANIZATION (cpov:PublicOrganisation) - Government bodies
  • ORGANIZATIONAL_UNIT (org:OrganizationalUnit) - Departments/divisions
  • ORGANIZATIONAL_COLLABORATION (org:OrganizationalCollaboration) - Multi-party partnerships

5. RDF Generation ✅

Generated complete OWL ontology in 4 serialization formats:

Format File Size Use Case
Turtle 01_custodian_name.owl.ttl 138 KB Human-readable, SPARQL queries
N-Triples 01_custodian_name.nt 403 KB Streaming processing, line-based parsing
RDF/XML 01_custodian_name.rdf 289 KB Legacy systems, XML toolchains
JSON-LD 01_custodian_name.jsonld 335 KB Web APIs, JavaScript applications

OWL Ontology Features:

  • Complete class hierarchy with owl:Class definitions
  • Property restrictions (cardinality, range constraints)
  • Ontology alignments (class_uri, slot_uri mappings)
  • SKOS documentation (definitions, notes, examples)

6. ISO 20275 Data Parsed ✅

Successfully parsed GLEIF Entity Legal Form code list:

Statistics:

  • 3,819 active legal form codes
  • 117 jurisdictions (countries/regions)
  • Top 5 countries: US (724), FR (255), CA (239), FI (132), BE (129)

Generated Files:

  • ISO20275_common.yaml - Curated mappings for heritage institutions (foundations, nonprofits, etc.)

7. Documentation Created ✅

New Documentation (17 KB total):

  • LEGAL_ENTITY_REFACTORING.md (14 KB) - Complete design rationale and migration guide
  • LEGAL_ENTITY_QUICK_REFERENCE.md (3 KB) - Quick reference for developers
  • LEGAL_ENTITY_IMPLEMENTATION_SUMMARY.md (this file)

8. Files Created/Updated

Created (9 new schema files):

  • LegalEntityType.yaml
  • LegalForm.yaml
  • LegalName.yaml
  • RegistrationInfo.yaml
  • legal_entity_type.yaml (slot)
  • registration_numbers.yaml (slot)
  • ISO20275_mapping.yaml

Updated (8 existing files):

  • CustodianReconstruction.yaml - 7 slot ranges updated
  • ReconstructionActivity.yaml - Temporal model refactored
  • AgentTypeEnum.yaml - New agent types added
  • 01_custodian_name_modular.yaml - Imports updated
  • legal_name.yaml (slot) - Range changed to class
  • legal_form.yaml (slot) - Range changed to class
  • registration_authority.yaml (slot) - Range changed to class
  • governance_structure.yaml (slot) - Range changed to class

Deprecated (2 files):

  • entity_type.yaml → .deprecated
  • registration_number.yaml → .deprecated

Key Design Decisions

Critical Rule: CustodianReconstruction = Legal Entities ONLY

CustodianReconstruction is now strictly for formally registered legal entities:

  • Natural persons (individuals with legal rights)
  • Legal persons (organizations with legal personality)

Informal groups (families, communities, amateur clubs) remain as CustodianObservation only (not reconstructed as legal entities).

Two-Tier Classification

LegalEntityType has only 2 values:

  1. PERSON: Natural persons (cannot have legal forms per ISO 20275)
  2. ORGANIZATION: Legal persons (must have legal forms)

This aligns with ISO 20275 scope (organizations only) and legal theory (persons vs organizations).

ISO 20275 Integration

  • 3,819 legal form codes across 117 jurisdictions
  • Each LegalForm instance references an ELF code
  • Curated common mappings for heritage institutions
  • Country-specific templates for localization

Ontology Alignments

Class Primary Ontology Secondary Alignments
LegalEntityType ROV:RegisteredOrganization org:Organization
LegalForm ELF codes (ISO 20275) org:classification
LegalName TOOI (Dutch govt) rov:legalName, skos:prefLabel
RegistrationNumber ROV:registration adms:Identifier
RegistrationAuthority ROV:RegistrationAuthority org:RegisteredOrganization
GovernanceStructure org:Organization schema:Organization
LegalStatus ROV:orgStatus schema:status

Validation Results

Schema Validation

  • ✅ LinkML imports resolved - All 84 module files loaded successfully
  • ✅ No circular dependencies - String ranges used where needed
  • ⚠️ Example instances need updating - Old EntityTypeEnum values present

RDF Generation

  • ✅ OWL ontology generated - 138 KB Turtle file
  • ✅ All formats created - Turtle, N-Triples, RDF/XML, JSON-LD
  • ⚠️ Namespace warnings (non-critical) - Multiple ontologies define same prefixes

ISO 20275 Parsing

  • ✅ 3,819 codes parsed - Complete GLEIF code list v1.5
  • ✅ Common mappings created - Template for heritage institutions
  • 📋 TODO: Curate country-specific mappings (NL, BE, FR, DE, US, etc.)

What's Next

Immediate (Required)

  1. Update Example Instances ✅ PRIORITY

    • Migrate entity_type → legal_entity_type in all examples
    • Convert primitive values to class instances: 
      # OLD
legal_name: "Stichting Rijksmuseum"
legal_form: "Stichting"
registration_number: "12345678"

# NEW
legal_name:
  full_name: "Stichting Rijksmuseum"
  name_without_type: "Rijksmuseum"
  alphabetical_name: "Rijksmuseum, Stichting"
legal_form:
  elf_code: "8888"  # Foundation
  country_code: "NL"
  local_name: "Stichting"
registration_numbers:
  - number: "12345678"
    authority:
      name: "Kamer van Koophandel"
      country: "NL"
    valid_from: "1994-01-01"

  2. Run Validation Tests ✅ PRIORITY

    linkml-validate -s schemas/20251121/linkml/01_custodian_name_modular.yaml \
                schemas/20251121/examples/*.yaml

  3. Generate Python Dataclasses 📋 TODO

    gen-python schemas/20251121/linkml/01_custodian_name_modular.yaml > \
         schemas/20251121/python/custodian_model.py

Short-term (Data Migration)

  1. Create Migration Script 📋 TODO

    • Read existing YAML data using old schema
    • Transform entity_type enum → legal_entity_type class instances
    • Transform primitive slots → class instances
    • Write migrated data using new schema

  2. Update Unit Tests 📋 TODO

    • Test all 4 RegistrationInfo sub-classes
    • Test LegalForm with ISO 20275 codes
    • Test LegalName with TOOI variants
    • Test TimeSpan for fuzzy temporal extents

  3. Create Country-Specific Mappings 📋 TODO

    • Netherlands: Stichting (foundation), Vereniging (association), BV (private company)
    • Belgium: ASBL/VZW (nonprofit), SA/NV (public company)
    • France: Association loi 1901, Fondation, SARL
    • Germany: e.V. (Verein), gGmbH (nonprofit), Stiftung
    • United States: 501(c)(3) nonprofit, LLC, Corporation

Long-term (Enhancements)

  1. Curate RegistrationAuthority List 📋 TODO

    • Compile list of national business registries (per country)
    • Add Chamber of Commerce identifiers (where applicable)
    • Link to official registry APIs

  2. Map Full ISO 20275 Hierarchy 📋 TODO

    • Legal form parent/child relationships
    • Regional variants (e.g., US state-specific forms)
    • Historical legal forms (inactive but relevant)

  3. Integrate with National Registries 📋 TODO

    • Netherlands: KvK (Kamer van Koophandel) API
    • Belgium: KBO/BCE (Kruispuntbank van Ondernemingen)
    • France: INSEE SIRENE
    • Germany: Handelsregister

  4. Add Legal Form Change Tracking 📋 TODO

    • Track organizational transformations (e.g., Vereniging → Stichting)
    • Link to ChangeEvent class in provenance module
    • Model legal form conversions (e.g., incorporation)

Migration Checklist

For developers updating code or data to use the new legal entity model:

  • Replace all entity_type references with legal_entity_type
  • Update EntityTypeEnum to LegalEntityType (PERSON | ORGANIZATION)
  • Convert legal_name from string to LegalName class
  • Convert legal_form from string to LegalForm class with ELF code
  • Replace single registration_number with list of registration_numbers
  • Convert registration_authority from string to RegistrationAuthority class
  • Convert governance_structure from string to GovernanceStructure class
  • Convert legal_status from enum to LegalStatus class
  • Add legal_entity_type property to all CustodianReconstruction instances
  • Verify informal groups are CustodianObservation (not Reconstruction)
  • Update temporal fields to use TimeSpan instead of separate start/end
  • Run LinkML validation on all updated files
  • Regenerate RDF if ontology mappings changed
  • Update documentation/examples referencing old model

Testing Commands

# Validate schema structure
linkml-validate -s schemas/20251121/linkml/01_custodian_name_modular.yaml

# Validate example instances
linkml-validate -s schemas/20251121/linkml/01_custodian_name_modular.yaml \
                schemas/20251121/examples/*.yaml

# Generate RDF ontology (Turtle)
gen-owl -f ttl schemas/20251121/linkml/01_custodian_name_modular.yaml > \
        schemas/20251121/rdf/01_custodian_name.owl.ttl

# Convert to other RDF formats
rdfpipe schemas/20251121/rdf/01_custodian_name.owl.ttl -o nt > \
        schemas/20251121/rdf/01_custodian_name.nt

rdfpipe schemas/20251121/rdf/01_custodian_name.owl.ttl -o json-ld > \
        schemas/20251121/rdf/01_custodian_name.jsonld

rdfpipe schemas/20251121/rdf/01_custodian_name.owl.ttl -o xml > \
        schemas/20251121/rdf/01_custodian_name.rdf

# Generate Python dataclasses
gen-python schemas/20251121/linkml/01_custodian_name_modular.yaml > \
           schemas/20251121/python/custodian_model.py

# Parse ISO 20275 codes
python scripts/parse_iso20275_codes.py

Key Files Reference

Main Schema: schemas/20251121/linkml/01_custodian_name_modular.yaml

Legal Entity Classes:

  • schemas/20251121/linkml/modules/classes/LegalEntityType.yaml
  • schemas/20251121/linkml/modules/classes/LegalForm.yaml
  • schemas/20251121/linkml/modules/classes/LegalName.yaml
  • schemas/20251121/linkml/modules/classes/RegistrationInfo.yaml

Updated Core Classes:

  • schemas/20251121/linkml/modules/classes/CustodianReconstruction.yaml
  • schemas/20251121/linkml/modules/classes/ReconstructionActivity.yaml

Legal Entity Slots:

  • schemas/20251121/linkml/modules/slots/legal_entity_type.yaml
  • schemas/20251121/linkml/modules/slots/registration_numbers.yaml

Documentation:

  • schemas/20251121/linkml/modules/classes/LEGAL_ENTITY_REFACTORING.md
  • schemas/20251121/linkml/modules/classes/LEGAL_ENTITY_QUICK_REFERENCE.md
  • schemas/20251121/linkml/modules/classes/LEGAL_ENTITY_IMPLEMENTATION_SUMMARY.md

Data Sources:

  • data/ontology/2023-09-28-elf-code-list-v1.5.csv (ISO 20275 codes)
  • schemas/20251121/linkml/modules/mappings/ISO20275_common.yaml (curated mappings)

Generated RDF:

  • schemas/20251121/rdf/01_custodian_name.owl.ttl (Turtle)
  • schemas/20251121/rdf/01_custodian_name.nt (N-Triples)
  • schemas/20251121/rdf/01_custodian_name.rdf (RDF/XML)
  • schemas/20251121/rdf/01_custodian_name.jsonld (JSON-LD)

Success Metrics

✅ Schema Complexity: 17 classes, 59 slots, 6 enums (84 module files)
✅ Legal Forms Supported: 3,819 codes across 117 jurisdictions
✅ Ontology Alignments: 12 base ontologies (TOOI, ROV, W3C Org, ISO 20275, etc.)
✅ RDF Formats: 4 serializations (Turtle, N-Triples, RDF/XML, JSON-LD)
✅ Documentation: 17 KB comprehensive guides
✅ Temporal Precision: Fuzzy timestamps with begin/end boundaries
✅ Data Quality: Strict validation rules (legal entities only in reconstructions)

Implementation Complete: 2025-11-22
Next Review: After example migration and validation tests
Status: ✅ SCHEMA REFACTORED, RDF GENERATED, DATA PARSED