TEMPLATE 2

COMPLETE RECORD = a record that has all the elements of form required by the juridical system in which it is created. Completeness is conferred to a record by the presence of all required elements of its intellectual form, specifically the features of content articulation and the annotations.

Intellectual form = the characteristics of the internal composition of the record

They are, in any order:

1. entitling = name, title, capacity, or address of the physical or juridical person issuing the record or of which the author of the record is an agent (eg. letterhead)
2. title = name of the record. It refers either to the form of the record (eg. indenture, minutes) or to the act carried out by the record (eg. agreement, oath of office)
3. date = place (topical date) and time (chronological date) of the compilation and/or issuing of the document and/or of the act which the record concerns
4. superscription = name of the author of the record and/or of the act (eg. "I, John Smith,declare..." or "John Smith, of the first party"). In letters, it often takes the form of entitling.
5. inscription = name, title, and address of the addressee of the record and/or of the act
6. salutation = a greeting (eg. "Dear sir")
7. subject = statement signifying what the record is about
8. preamble = statement expressing the ideal motivation of the act, or the ethical or juridical principles inspiring it, or the articles of law on which the action is based
9. exposition = statement of the concrete and immediate circumstances generating the record and/or the act
10. disposition = expression of the will or judgement of the author
11. appreciation = a wish for the realization of the disposition
12. complimentary clause = a brief formula expressing respect (eg. "yours truly")
13. attestation = the subscription of those who took part in issuing the record (i.e. author, writer, countersigner, and/or witnessess). It might or might not take the form of signatures
14. qualification of subscription(s) = title and capacity of the subscriber(s)
15. secretarial notes = initials of typists, mention of enclosures, indication that the record is copied to other persons

    Some other elements of content articulation are particular to certain record forms and contribute to their identification by being necessary to their completeness. They are:

16. invocation = mention of the higher power in the name of whom the type of act is carried out (eg. "In the name of the law")
17. formula perpetuitatis = sentence declaring that the rights put into existence by the record are not circumscribed by time
18. notification = publication of the purport of the record (eg. "Know you" as in a letters patent)
19. corroboration = enunciation of the means used to validate the record and guarantee its authenticity
20. clause of injunction = expression of the obligation of all those concerned to conform to the will of the author
21. clause of prohibition = prohibition to violate the enactment or oppose it
22. clause of derogation = expression of the obligation to respect the enactment notwithstanding other orders or decisions contrary to it, opposition, appeals, or previous dispositions
23. clause of exception = expression of the situations, conditions, or persons which are excepted from the enactment
24. clause of obligation = expression of the obligation of the parties to respect the act for themselves and for their successors or descendants
25. clause of renunciation = expression of the consent to give up a right or a claim
26. clause of warning = treat of punishment, should the enactment be violated
27. promissory clause = expression of the promise of a prize if the enactment is respected

a. date (for identifying the topical and temporal context)

b. superscription or attestation (for identification of the author)

c. inscription (for identification of the addressee)

d. disposition (for identification of the action)

a. date

b. superscription or attestation

c. inscription

d. title or subject (for identification of the content)

In addition to these, other elements of content articulation are required within each given juridical system for each given record form.

Annotations = additions to the content of the record made after its compilation. They can be distinguished in categories in relation the procedural moment in the treatment of the affair in which they were added to the record in question:

Annotations added in the execution phase:

authentication = the express, legal recognition that a record or the signature(s) on it is what it purports to be (particular to certain record forms)

registration = the reference to a transcription of the record made in a register by an office different from the one creating the record (particular to certain record forms)

instructions = the mention of previous or following actions, directions for transmission, disposition, classification, etc.

dates of hearings or readings

signs besides the text = notations added by the reader, such as check marks, question marks, etc.

registry number = the consecutive number assigned to incoming and outgoing mail in offices using the registry system

classification code = the code which identifies a record by its documentary relationships in the receiving and/or generating offices

cross-references = the indication of the classification code of related files

date of receipt = chronological date of the receipt of the record

name of recipient = name of the receiving office (usually affixed by a stamp) or individual.

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