I withdraw the previous version of this proposal, and submit the
following revised version.
Proposal: Contract precedence
(AI = 2, please)
woggle is a co-author of this proposal.
Create a new rule titled "Precedence of Contracts" with Power 2 and
this text:
In a conflict between a rule and a contract, or between two
contracts:
a) If the conflict pertains to obligation or prohibition, then
neither entity takes precedence; it is up to the party to
avoid such conflicts. If the conflict pertains to existence
or possibility, then the following clauses apply.
b) In a conflict between a rule and a contract, the rule takes
precedence.
c) In a conflict between a public contract and a private
contract, the public contract takes precedence.
d) In a conflict between two public contracts, the one that has
been public longer takes precedence.
e) In a conflict between two private contracts, the older one
takes precedence.
Amend Rule 1586 (Definition and Continuity of Entities) by replacing
this text:
If multiple rules or contracts (hereafter documents) attempt to
define an entity with the same name, then they refer to the same
entity. A document-defined entity's name CANNOT be changed to
be the same as another document-defined entity.
with this text:
If multiple rules and/or contracts (hereafter documents) attempt
to define an entity with the same name, then only one succeeds in
doing so; this constitutes a conflict, which is resolved according
to precedence. Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, the name of
a document-defined entity CANNOT be changed to be the same as that
of another document-defined entity, and a contract CANNOT be
amended to define an entity already defined by a different public
contract.
If multiple documents attempt to refer to an entity with the same
name, then they refer to the same entity.
