Law Format

Laws in RegelRecht are stored as YAML files conforming to the law schema. Each file represents one law at a specific point in time.

File Organization

corpus/regulation/nl/
├── wet/                              # Formal laws (wetten)
│   ├── wet_op_de_zorgtoeslag/
│   │   └── 2025-01-01.yaml
│   ├── participatiewet/
│   │   └── 2022-03-15.yaml
│   └── burgerlijk_wetboek_boek_5/
│       └── 2024-01-01.yaml
├── ministeriele_regeling/            # Ministerial regulations
│   └── regeling_standaardpremie/
│       ├── 2024-01-01.yaml
│       └── 2025-01-01.yaml
└── gemeentelijke_verordening/        # Municipal ordinances
    ├── amsterdam/
    │   └── apv_erfgrens/
    │       └── 2024-01-01.yaml
    └── diemen/
        └── afstemmingsverordening_participatiewet/
            └── 2015-01-01.yaml

Structure of a Law File

Header Metadata

$schema: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/.../refs/tags/schema-v0.5.1/schema/v0.5.1/schema.json
$id: zorgtoeslagwet
regulatory_layer: WET
publication_date: '2025-01-01'
valid_from: '2025-01-01'
bwb_id: BWBR0018451
url: https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0018451/2025-01-01
name: Wet op de zorgtoeslag

Field	Required	Description
$id	Yes	Machine identifier (snake_case)
regulatory_layer	Yes	WET, AMVB, MINISTERIELE_REGELING, GEMEENTELIJKE_VERORDENING, etc.
publication_date	Yes	Official publication date (ISO 8601)
valid_from	No	Effective date
bwb_id	Conditional	Required for national laws (format: BWBR + 7 digits)
gemeente_code	Conditional	Required for municipal ordinances (format: GM + 4 digits)

Articles

Each article mirrors a real article in Dutch law:

articles:
  - number: '2'
    text: |
      1. De verzekerde heeft aanspraak op een zorgtoeslag...
      2. De hoogte van de zorgtoeslag is het verschil...
    url: https://wetten.overheid.nl/.../artikel/2
    machine_readable:
      definitions:
        DREMPELINKOMEN:
          value: 2500000   # €25,000 in eurocent
      execution:
        parameters:
          - name: bsn
            type: string
            required: true
        input:
          - name: toetsingsinkomen
            type: amount
            source:
              regulation: algemene_wet_inkomensafhankelijke_regelingen
              output: toetsingsinkomen
              parameters:
                bsn: $bsn
        output:
          - name: hoogte_zorgtoeslag
            type: amount
            type_spec:
              unit: eurocent
        actions:
          - output: hoogte_zorgtoeslag
            value:
              operation: MAX
              values:
                - 0
                - operation: SUBTRACT
                  values:
                    - $standaardpremie
                    - $normpremie

Key Concepts

Definitions

Constants used in calculations:

definitions:
  norm_alleenstaande:
    value: 109171        # €1,091.71 in eurocent
  PERCENTAGE_LID_5:
    value: 100

Operations

Operations are the building blocks of law logic:

Category	Operations	Syntax
Arithmetic	ADD, SUBTRACT, MULTIPLY, DIVIDE	values: [...]
Aggregate	MIN, MAX	values: [...]
Comparison	EQUALS, NOT_EQUALS, GREATER_THAN, LESS_THAN, GREATER_THAN_OR_EQUAL, LESS_THAN_OR_EQUAL	subject:, value:
Logical	AND, OR	conditions: [...]
Membership	IN, NOT_IN	subject:, values: [...]
Conditional	IF	when:, then:, else:
Multi-branch	SWITCH	cases: [{when:, then:}], default:
Date	SUBTRACT_DATE	subject:, value:, unit:
Null	IS_NULL, NOT_NULL	subject:

See RFC-004: Uniform Operation Syntax for the full specification.

Variable References

• $variableName - reference inputs, outputs, definitions, or parameters
• $referencedate.year - dot notation for property access
• #output_name - internal reference (same law)

Cross-Law References

Laws reference outputs from other laws via source:

input:
  - name: toetsingsinkomen
    type: amount
    source:
      regulation: algemene_wet_inkomensafhankelijke_regelingen
      output: toetsingsinkomen
      parameters:
        bsn: $bsn

See RFC-007: Cross-Law Execution for details.

Open Terms and Delegation (IoC)

Higher laws declare open_terms that lower regulations implement:

# In the wet (higher law)
open_terms:
  - id: standaardpremie
    type: amount
    required: true
    delegated_to: minister
    delegation_type: MINISTERIELE_REGELING
    legal_basis: artikel 4 Wet op de zorgtoeslag
    default:
      actions:
        - output: standaardpremie
          value: 211200

# In the ministerial regulation (lower law)
implements:
  - law: zorgtoeslagwet
    article: '4'
    open_term: standaardpremie
    gelet_op: Gelet op artikel 4 van de Wet op de zorgtoeslag

The engine resolves implementations at runtime using lex superior / lex posterior rules.

See RFC-003: Inversion of Control for the full pattern.

Legal Character

Articles can declare what kind of legal product they produce:

execution:
  produces:
    legal_character: BESCHIKKING   # Administrative decision
    decision_type: TOEKENNING      # Grant

This enables the AWB procedure hooks (RFC-008).

Type Specifications

Fields can have detailed type information:

output:
  - name: hoogte_zorgtoeslag
    type: amount
    type_spec:
      unit: eurocent
      precision: 0

Corpus Contents

The current corpus contains laws across three regulatory layers:

Layer	Count	Examples
WET	11	Participatiewet, Zorgtoeslag, Zorgverzekeringswet, BW Boek 5
MINISTERIELE_REGELING	1	Regeling standaardpremie (2 versions)
GEMEENTELIJKE_VERORDENING	2	Amsterdam APV erfgrens, Diemen afstemmingsverordening

Next Steps

• Testing - writing BDD scenarios for laws
• Schema Reference - full schema specification
• Engine - how the engine executes laws