A legal document is a written instrument created to produce, modify, or terminate legal effects — rights, obligations, liabilities, or statuses — within a recognized jurisdiction. Parameters: (1) written or formally recorded form; (2) intended legal effect enforceable under a jurisdiction's authority; (3) compliance with jurisdictional formal requirements (signatures, witnesses, registration). Persistence mechanism: codified texts, institutional practice of courts and registries, trained participation of legal actors, and archival systems. [formal: instrumentum iuris | substrate: matter | horizon: generations | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.94]
Accepted ontology entry
legal document
A legal document is a written instrument created to produce, modify, or terminate legal effects — rights, obligations, liabilities, or statuses — within a recognized jurisdiction. Parameters: (1) written or formally recorded form; (2) inte…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A human-made written instrument that carries legal force or effect — created by legislatures, courts, or authorized parties, persisted through institutional record-keeping and citation conventions.
Names and aliases
- legal documenten · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmryhv1ck0102ekkxvvy9d8i7INSTANCE_OF →
A legal document is a specific kind of document — one created to serve legal purposes (contracts, wills, deeds, statutes). A competent speaker would call a legal document a type of document.
Relations to this entry
- cmrorcm9j05dmd1nl5nghbmwt← INSTANCE_OF
An indictment IS a specific kind of legal document — a formal accusation filed by a government. Direction specific→general per Law 9.
- cms5bh45h01ewi9iq0827uxea← INSTANCE_OF
A waiver is a specific kind of legal document: a written instrument by which a party relinquishes a known claim or right. Per Law 9, a competent speaker would call a waiver 'a legal document.' Direction: specific→general.
- cmrmnz40800wmd1nl9t9a1nc6← INSTANCE_OF
A subpoena is a specific type of legal document: a court order compelling someone to appear in court or produce evidence. 'Is a subpoena a type of legal document?' Yes. Nearest kind: legal document.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 23, 2026, 11:28 AM UTC
- Content hash
- 84db018ec969b2991e569af2a42b9fb55db7d7e7285b99cf3b1e8b675a68e857