Social and legal qualities of a person
Description & Use case
This is a very powerful profile. Its classes allow to express the social and legal dimension of a person's life. Activate this profile to record information about:
generic jobs and functions of specific people,
specific roles, functions and titles of specific people,
rights and obligations of specific people,
the legal status of a specific person at a given moment in time,
the religious identity of people.
Find here the profile description on OntoME.
Hint: This profile is often used in combination with the profiles
Law, rights & obligations.
Main classes of this profile
| Main classes & properties | Use cases |
|---|---|
--> Use the class social quality to register generic jobs (such as merchant, baker, singer, economist, sailor etc) but also generic functions (such as treasurer, chairman, president etc.). | |
--> Link a profession or function (recorded as social quality) with a specific individual. | |
--> Use this class to register specific roles/ functions or titles (such as President of France, King of Spain, Pope, CEO of Microsoft). It is typical that these roles were carried out by different persons over time. | |
--> Link a specific role or function (recorded as social role) with a specific person and add a time span. | |
--> Use the class custom or law, to register an enacted law or set of rules used by custom, which apply to people in a defined area/ jurisdiction. For example the UK inheritance law. | |
--> Use the class legal individual to register types of rights an individual can acquire, such as the "General Abonnement of Switzerland", which entitles the owner to use any train at any time. Or the annual pass for a gym, giving you entry to the same. Or land titles. | |
--> Designate a specific person as the owner of a specific right (recorded as legal individual), object (recorded as man-made object) or house (recorded as construction) and add a time span. --> Indicate that a specific person was concerned by a specific law/set of rules (recorded as custom/law). | |
--> Use the class legal quality to register different legal statuses (such as Swiss nationality, French nationality, Swiss foreigner residence permit cat. B, Kenyan foreign Nationals status etc.). | |
--> Link a specific legal status (recorded as legal quality) with a specific person and add a time span. | |
--> Use this class to register denominations of different religious identities such as Catholic, Jewish or Muslim. | |
--> Link a specific denomination of a religious identity with a specific peson and add a time span. | |
--> Indicate the residence/domicile of a person. |
Most common use cases
How to differentiate social quality and social role:
Note that the class social quality is used to characterize the generic functions and professions a a person had, such as being scientist, baker or treasurer (without any further specifications).
On the other hand, the class social role refers to specific functions and roles that a person embodied during its lifetime, such as being the Director of the University of Padova or the CEO of Microsoft or Treasurer of the Merchant Association of Lausanne. It is typical that over time these roles were carried out by different persons.
Add generic functions and jobs as social quality
1) register the functions / job titles as social quality
Add all functions and job titles you need via "create a new social quality".
Examples
Generic jobs: merchant, baker, singer, economist, sailor, salesman, politician, assistant, historian, mathematician, lawyer etc.
Generic functions: treasurer, chairman, president
Generic family status: widowed, single, married, bastard, etc.
Generic rank of nobility & aristocracy: noble, knight, lord, gentleman, "homme-lige", etc.
Generic civic status: burghers, citizens, parishioners, etc. [if specific: use legal quality]
--> Use definition to clarify the meaning of the Social Quality you are creating!
Hint: Many jobs and functions are already recorded by other projects, you can find & select them in the list on the right side. This helps to make your data interoperable with other projects!
Alternatively you can use the controlled vocabulary section to define the professions (as social qualities):
2) link the person and function with the class 'social quality of an actor' via the property 'has social quality'
A social quality pertains to a person. The easiest way to connect a person with a profession is to open the person's entity card and click on "has social quality". In case you have multiple options, select "social quality of an actor".
Hint: by selection "Social Location of an Actor" you can add information on the residency of a person.
Add specific functions and roles as "social role"
Example of specific functions
Specific professions: Director of the University of Padova, CEO of Microsoft,
Specific functions: Treasurer of the Merchant Association of Lausanne, Secretary General of the UN
Specific titles: King of Spain, Duke of Wellington
Specific ranks: Commander of the British 2nd Division
1) register the functions / job titles as social quality
Hint: Many jobs and functions are already recorded by other projects, you can find & select them in the list on the right side. This helps to make your data interoperable with other projects!
Option 1) Add all functions & job titles you need via "create a new social role".
Option 2) Do the same directly via the controlled vocabulary for "social role".
2) link the person and function with the class 'social role embodiment' via the property 'embodies'
A social role pertains to a person. The easiest way to connect a person with a function it had is to open the person's entity card and click on "embodies".
Detail the specific right of a person as 'Holding of a Right or Obligation'
When you detail a specific right or obligation of a person, you can further indicate
the specific right an individual can acquire (Legal Individual),
the generic right group that a specific right belongs to (Holding of a Right Type),
the real estate property to which the right/obligation is linked (Construction),
the physical object (knife, boat) to which the right/obligation is linked (Man-Made Object),
the geographical place to which the right/obligation is linked (Geographical Place ),
the law or custom from which the right/obligation emanates/ is derived (Custom or Law).
Legal Individual: The specific right/obligation that an individual can acquire
A legal individual is a specific right or obligation that an individual has per law or has acquired/purchased. These rights and obligations, respectively the right to acquire them are rooted/derived from laws & customs.
Examples:
Right to use the gym, because the person holds an annual entry pass.
Specific land titles
Right to use any train in Switzerland because the person is a holder of the "General Abonnement of Switzerland".
Right to inherit a real estate in Algeria because the person is an Algerian male descendent.
Obligation to participate in military service because the person is a male citizen of Switzerland.
Custom or law: the law or custom from which the right/obligation emanates/ is derived
Laws and customs are a formalized set of rules, valid for a group and its members in a defined area/ jurisdiction, defining rights and obligations of the concerned actors, and rights over or obligations concerning specific things.
A law is generally created by the enactment of legislatures, while common law and custom derive from usage or practice of the people: by common adoption and acquiescence, and by long and unvarying habit, their rules have become compulsory, and acquired the force of a law.
Examples:
UK inheritance law,
EU Charter of Fundamental Rights,
Swiss federal law on military and military administration,
the UN Charta,
A heritage custom in France in the 17th century.
A practical example
Land Ownership in the city of Basel. Indicate:
time span of ownership,
the Building owned,
the person who owns it,
the type of right (right of possession),
the underlying law (Swiss Civil Code).
Inform about the legal status /nationality of a person as 'legal quality'
A legal quality allows to register different legal statuses of persons. A legal status is defined as such by law and coupled to a specific set of rights and obligations. A person can have several statuses at the same time (nationality of one country and residence permit of another) or over time (e.g. change of nationality).
Examples
Swiss nationality,
French nationality,
Swiss foreigner residence permit category B,
Kenyan foreign nationals status.
1) add legal statuses your project
Hint: Many legal statuses are already recorded by other projects, you can find & select them in the list on the right side. This helps to make your data interoperable with other projects!
Option 1) Add all legal statuses you need via "create a new legal quality".
Option 2) Do the same directly via the controlled vocabulary for "legal quality"
Hint: You can group your statuses in a more generic group by adding types. Manage your types in the controlled vocabulary "legal quality types":
2) connect a legal status with a specific person using "legal connotation"
A legal connotation is the legal status of a specific person at a given moment in time. Indicate:
the time span of the validity of this status,
the legal status itself (legal quality),
if wished: the larger category it belongs to (legal quality type),
the person having this status.
Add the religious identity of a person
Religious identities include for example: Catholic, Jewish or Muslim.
1) add religions to your project
Hint: Many religions are already recorded by other projects, you can find and select them in the list on the right side. This helps to make your data interoperable with other projects!
Option 1) Add all religions you need via "create a new religion or religious denominations".
Option 2) Do the same directly via the controlled vocabulary for "religion or religious denominations".
2) connect a religion with a specific person
Select the "create a new Religious Identity" and indicate:
time span of the validity (if wished),
the religion itself (drop-down list from religions added under step 1),
to whom it belongs.
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