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ANNOTATION GUIDELINES
Stage 1: Requirement-Bearing Clause Identification
Reg2Req Project | Version 1.0
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1. PURPOSE AND SCOPE
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These guidelines describe how to annotate clauses extracted from regulatory
documents for the task of requirement-bearing clause identification. 

For each clause, you will assign one of two labels:

  REQUIREMENT-BEARING
    The clause specifies, grants, constrains, or prohibits an observable
    behavior, interaction, or system property that a software system must
    implement, enforce, support, or prevent in order to be compliant.

  NOT REQUIREMENT-BEARING
    The clause does not imply any behavior, property, or constraint that a
    software system must realize. Compliance can be satisfied entirely through
    organizational, contractual, or human-actor measures.


2. CORE DEFINITION
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A clause is REQUIREMENT-BEARING if a software engineer, upon reading it, would
need to add, modify, or remove at least one functional or non-functional
property in a system specification in order to ensure the system is compliant
-- independently of any legal interpretation or organizational policy decisions.

[IMPORTANT DISTINCTION]
This is a Requirements Engineering (RE) task, not a legal analysis task. You
are NOT determining whether a clause creates a legal obligation. You are
determining whether the clause implies something a software system must do,
enforce, prevent, or support.


3. DECISION PROCEDURE
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Apply the following three questions in order when assessing each clause:

  Q1. Does the clause describe or constrain an action, interaction, or property
      of a software system?
        - If YES: Continue to Q2.
        - If NO:  Label NOT REQUIREMENT-BEARING.

  Q2. Would a software engineer need to add, modify, or remove at least one
      property in a system specification to satisfy this clause?
        - If YES: Label REQUIREMENT-BEARING.
        - If NO:  Continue to Q3.

  Q3. Does compliance with this clause require a software system to enforce a
      restriction, prevent an action, or enable a user right (even if the
      clause is phrased as a prohibition or right-grant)?
        - If YES: Label REQUIREMENT-BEARING.
        - If NO:  Label NOT REQUIREMENT-BEARING.

Note: Apply this procedure even when the clause grants a right, defines an
exception, or lacks explicit modal verbs such as 'shall' or 'must'.

4. ANNOTATION PROCEDURE
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Follow this procedure for each clause in your assigned batch:

  1. Read the entire clause carefully. Do not skip sub-points -- they form
     part of the clause.
  2. Apply the three decision questions from Section 3 in order.
  3. Assign a label: REQUIREMENT-BEARING or NOT REQUIREMENT-BEARING.
  4. If you are uncertain, flag the clause for review. Do not leave it blank.

