Rules

After this lesson, the reader should understand:

• 01Classify a rule by modality: obligation, permission, prohibition.
• 02Split compound prose into atomic rules.
• 03Attach each rule to the authority that issues it.

One sentence, four rules

A single compliance sentence carries four obligations. Why does that matter?

As prose, the sentence is evaluated as a unit and audited as a unit. As four atomic rules, each obligation can be tested, exempted, versioned, and reported on independently — and a partial failure is reportable as a partial failure rather than a blanket non-compliance. Atomicity is what makes remediation precise.

• When is a compound rule clearer than its atomic parts?
• How should conflicting rules of equal authority be resolved?
• Should a rule carry its own penalty, or reference one?

Atomise a compliance clause.

1. 01Split the clause into single-obligation statements.
2. 02Label each with its modality and subject.
3. 03State the condition set for each.
4. 04Identify any obligation with no stated consequence.

• Deontic and defeasible logic.
• Business rules management literature.
• Normative systems in multi-agent research.