Modificatory provisions (e.g. amendments of treaties, standards, resolutions, etc.) are legal normative statements that specify modifications to another legal document. Akoma Ntoso models the textual elements (amendments) by marking up the actual text being modified and the related semantic information.

AKN makes two important assumptions with respect to how the evolution of a document through modifications are managed:

Modifications happen at precise moments in time that may be determined objectively and attributed to a specific date.

Modifications are due to the enactment of a specific document that may be objectively traced back and identified.

A modifying document is one that changes another document by way of instructions contained within it. A modified document is one that gets changed (receives the changes) by a modifying document.

Modifications may thus be called:

Active: when one document changes another document, those changes are called active modifications. They represent and qualify the amending text included in the modificatory document.

Passive: when a document contains changes that come from another document, those types of changes are called passive modifications. They represent and qualify the modifications that a document received (modified document).

The changes (active modifications) expressed in the modifying document (e.g. amendment) are modelled within the <mod> inline element that contains the text describing the modification. The elements <quotedText> or <quotedStructure> may be used respectively for simple text or a more complex structure that is part of a modification.

Akoma Ntoso supports three types of modifications:

<mod>: specifies a single modification;

<mmod>: specifies a group of modifications (a list of individual <mod> elements must be placed inside the <mmod> element, one for each modification);

<rmod>: specifies a range of modifications delimited by the href and @upTo attributes.

Akoma Ntoso may handle different modifications styles:

Simple Replacement: it lists specific changes in the form of insertions and deletions with quoted text. The text that the modification has to affect is referenced via its hierarchical level or section.

<mod eId="mod_1">
In <ref href="/akn/...">section 1, paragraph 3, sentence 2</ref>,
strike
“<quotedText eId="">majority</quotedText>”
and insert
“<quotedText eId="">plurality</quotedText>”
</mod>

Restatement in Full –the part that is to be modified is restated entirely with the changes shown (sometimes) as strikes and insertions. In these cases we use <ins> and <del>.

<mod eId="mod_1">
<ref href="/akn/…/!main#sec_1234">Section 1234</ref> is amended to read:
<quotedStructure eId="mod_1__qts_1">
<section eId=" mod_1__qts_1__sec_1234">
<num>1234</num>
<content>
<p>If a <del eId="mod_1__qts_1__sec_1234__del_1">majority</del>
<ins eId="mod_1__qts_1__sec_1234__ins_1">plurality</ins> of the
parties to the arbitration
agreement are citizens of a
State or States that have
ratified or ….</p>
</content>
</section>
</quotedStructure>
</mod>

Without stating the destination to be changed – a statement to modify the destination without literally stating the change.

<mod eId="mod_1"> In <rref href="" from="" upTo="">Article 11, paragraphs 2 and 3<rref> are deleted</mod>

Passive modifications are stated in the modified document using <ins> and <del> tags (see section Insertions & Deletions). Occasionally the <omissis> tag is also used to indicate text that has been omitted for presentation. (see <omissis>)

When dealing with modifications of legal text, it is very important to clearly and precisely identify which provisions are in force, or have been repealed and at what time and under which conditions. Akoma Ntoso provides rich support for modelling the temporal aspects of provisions and also amendments found within legal documents. See section 7.3.7 <temporalData>.

Active and Passive Modifications are modelled in the <analysis> and more specifically in the <activeModifications> element that lists any modifications that a document makes to other documents and the <passiveModifications> element that lists any modifications found within the document.