Power: exercise, validity, effect, immunity counterweight

OverviewBoundariesCorpus formsPitfalls

1. What it is in one sentence

power is a constitutive power: the holder performs an exercise, and when the validity condition (valid_when) holds a legal effect (effect) arises. The author takes it when the source grants competence: “may terminate”, “appoints”, “the court quashes”.

A power is a two-step device: the rule creates the position, and the legal effect follows only when the holder exercises it on valid grounds with no blocking immunity.

2. When to take it and when not to

Instead	Take when	Selection rule
liberty	the source gives “may” with no constitutive effect	liberty permits the action but creates nothing; power creates/terminates/changes. “May exit the contract by notice” with a termination effect — power; “may withdraw consent” with no effect — liberty
duty	conduct must be required, not empowered	a duty requires behaviour of the addressee; a power awaits the holder’s exercise. Do not write a duty “to exercise the power” — these are different positions
rule strict with an institutional head	the effect follows automatically by fact	if termination follows by the mere fact of delay, with no party notice — an ordinary rule, not power (no exercise)
immunity	protection against someone else’s effect is needed	immunity is the counterweight: protected_effect locks the power’s effect. Written as a separate norm, not as a flag on power

All four fields (holder, exercise, valid_when, effect) and the immunity window are mandatory; a missing one is LDC-E1305.

Grammar: power (EBNF verbatim from the language grammar)

Show syntax reference

The power form — the holder, the subject, the exercise, the validity condition, the effect, and the window (the holder and all four substantive fields are required; a missing one is LDC-E1305):

Grammar

power_conclusion        = "power", [ identifier ], "{",
                            { power_item },
                          "}" ;
power_item              = "holder", expression, ";"
                        | "over", expression, ";"
                        | "exercise", expression, ";"
                        | "effect", legal_effect, ";"
                        | "valid_when", formula, ";"
                        | "window", interval_expression, ";"
                        | source_anchor_item
                        | metadata_item ;

Position statuses and lifecycle live on the lifecycle page; windows as intervals and their computation — on the deadline-calendar page; window syntax is not duplicated here.

3. Minimal example

Package examples/power-exercise/: a customer may terminate a contract by notice when delivery is overdue. Full code — examples/power-exercise/package.law; cases and expectations — examples/power-exercise/tests/01-effect-materialized.lawtest (effect materialized) and tests/02-no-effect.lawtest (no effect).

Arxo Law

rule TerminationRule strict {
    for s: Supplier;
    for c: Customer;
    when contract_signed(s, c);
    then power Terminate {
        holder c;
        over s;
        exercise termination_notice(c, s);
        valid_when (delivery_overdue(s, c));
        effect create(contract_terminated(s, c));
    };
}

The engine’s actual answer (see How the engine answers):

• termination_notice + delivery_overdue → contract_terminated TRUE_ONLY (effect materialized);
• termination_notice alone → NEITHER + issue POWER_INVALID_EXERCISE (exercise without valid_when, no effect);
• delivery_overdue without termination_notice → NEITHER (no exercise — the power awaits the holder’s act).

Sensitivity check: remove delivery_overdue from the first scenario — the answer changes from TRUE_ONLY to NEITHER; remove termination_notice — the same transition. Both facts load-bearing.

4. Example across domains

• Law: limiting a fundamental right only by statute — package tr.constitution — Constitution of Türkiye (RestrictFundamentalRight: holder — the legislature, effect — the legal act of limitation; valid_when — constitutional admissibility).
• Law: terminating an employment contract on a failed probation — package uz.labor_code — Labour Code of Uzbekistan (RastorgnutPriNeudIspytanii).
• Law: quashing decisions of union organs — package su.union_treaty_1922 — 1922 Union Treaty (CECCancelUnionCouncilDecision and neighbours: a series of five quashing powers — a model of an organ’s competence).
• Religion/custom: immunity from termination under force majeure — examples/power-immunity/ (NoTerminationUnderForceMajeure, protected_effect contract_terminated(s, c); a pair with no priority gives UNRESOLVED_NORMATIVE_CONFLICT).

Full analysis — corpus-forms.md.

5. How the engine answers

Run output (verbatim):

Output

check OK: docs/research/constructs/12-power/examples/power-exercise
law test research.constructs.power_exercise: мир research.constructs.power_exercise
  ok   [research.constructs.power_exercise#authored] tests/01-effect-materialized.lawtest / exercise with valid ground materializes the effect
  ok   [research.constructs.power_exercise#authored] tests/02-no-effect.lawtest / exercise without valid ground gives NEITHER
  ok   [research.constructs.power_exercise#authored] tests/02-no-effect.lawtest / no exercise means no effect even on valid ground
итого: 3 проверено, 3 прошли, 0 не прошли, 0 не исполнены; код 0

Output

check OK: docs/research/constructs/12-power/examples/power-immunity
law test research.constructs.power_immunity: мир research.constructs.power_immunity
  ok   [research.constructs.power_immunity#authored] tests/01-effect-open.lawtest / without force majeure the effect materializes
  ok   [research.constructs.power_immunity#authored] tests/02-effect-blocked.lawtest / immunity blocks the effect under force majeure
итого: 2 проверено, 2 прошли, 0 не прошли, 0 не исполнены; код 0

Outcome status with a locked effect: truth_status NEITHER, evaluation_status UNRESOLVED_NORMATIVE_CONFLICT.

The rule creates an ACTIVE position; the effect materializes only with established exercise, valid_when, window, and no applicable immunity. Exercise without valid_when is issue POWER_INVALID_EXERCISE. An undefeated power/immunity pair is conservative effect materialization: an effect without support.

Distinguish the two answer statuses: truth_status speaks of the effect predicate (TRUE_ONLY vs NEITHER), evaluation_status — of the document as a whole (COMPUTED vs UNRESOLVED_NORMATIVE_CONFLICT). In the tests above the immunity package’s first row gives TRUE_ONLY + COMPUTED, the second — NEITHER + UNRESOLVED_NORMATIVE_CONFLICT: the effect is not established, and the document records this with a status, not with silence. Check both statuses, not only truth_status (see pitfalls.md).

The judgment channel and effect locking:

Facts	Question	Answer	Why
penalty_notice	penalty_imposed	NEITHER, REQUIRES_JUDGMENT	judge in valid_when; no POWER_INVALID_EXERCISE issued
same + adjudicated breach_material	penalty_imposed	TRUE_ONLY	the court closed the condition
same + force_majeure	penalty_imposed	NEITHER, UNRESOLVED_NORMATIVE_CONFLICT	power and immunity both undefeated, effect locked
penalty_notice + force_majeure without adjudication	penalty_imposed	NEITHER, COMPUTED	effect already locked — the judge is not asked

Counterfactual: without the TerminationRule rule the same facts (contract_signed, termination_notice, delivery_overdue) give NEITHER — nothing derives the effect.

6. Common mistakes

1. No exercise in the case — no effect, and this is not a defect: the power awaits the holder’s act. Check the exercise facts first.
2. valid_when without parentheses around a conjunction — LDC-E0201 + LDC-E1305; write valid_when (a and b);.
3. _ in valid_when — check stays silent, the effect never materializes (a known open gap; see pitfalls.md).
4. A judge in valid_when — REQUIRES_JUDGMENT, not “the power is invalid”; check evaluation_status.
5. Immunity “did not fire”: an undefeated pair gives UNRESOLVED_NORMATIVE_CONFLICT, not COMPUTED — distinguish result statuses from truth_status.
6. The power’s subject only affects the delegation subject check, not the position status.

Each analysed — pitfalls.md.

7. References

• The language specification defines power, immunity, conflict, defeat, the judgment channel, delegation, and positions as conclusions; this page states how to use them.
• Tutorials: /tutorials/writing-tests/ (test observations).
• Details: corpus-forms.md, pitfalls.md, boundaries.md.