ConflictOfInterestAvoidanceConstraint
Class
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#ConflictOfInterestAvoidanceConstraint
Class Hierarchy
- Thing
- ↳ entity (bfo)
- ↳ continuant (bfo)
- ↳ generically dependent continuant (bfo)
- ↳ information content entity (iao)
- ↳ directive information entity (iao)
- ↳ Constraint (proethica-core)
- ↳ Ethical Constraint (proethica-intermediate)
- ↳ Conflict Of Interest Avoidance Constraint
Definition
A prohibition on allowing personal or self-interest to influence professional conduct on behalf of a client, here barring the engineer from being motivated by self-interest in a preferred design solution once the client has decided against it.
Inherited from Case 103
A prohibition on a professional taking action or making decisions which would divide his loyalties or interests from those of his employer or client, foreclosing conduct that places the professional's own interests against the client's.
Inherited from Case 10
A prohibition on an engineer advancing their professional career by any improper or questionable method, bounding the means by which employment and professional advancement may be pursued.
Inherited from Case 20
A prohibition on allowing a personal or competitive self-interest to influence the professional opinions and comments an engineer provides, barring an engineer from using a requested evaluation of a competitor's work as a pretext for gaining a competitive advantage.
Inherited from Conflict_of_Interest_Avoidance
Constraint established by ethics code provisions
Case Provenance
Discovered in
- Case 4: Sustainable Development and Resilient Infrastructure first
- Case 10: Post-Public Employment - City Engineer Transitioning to Consultant
- Case 20: Review of Other Engineer’s Work
- Case 103: Conflict of Interest - Part-Time Service as City Engineer
This class was discovered during extraction of the case(s) above; the supporting verbatim quotes are in Source Evidence.
Properties
Confidence
0.9
Constraint Type
ethical
Property Structure
1 · Object and Data Properties
rdfs:domain on this class or ancestor
| Property | Range | Description |
|---|---|---|
| constrainedEntity inherited | Agent | Relates a Constraint to the Agent whose conduct it limits in the case scenario. Distinct from constrainedBy (Action -> Constraint), which records that an action is subject to a constraint. |
| establishedBy inherited | CodeProvision | Indicates which code provision establishes this ethical concept. |
2 · Definitional Attributes
SHACL definitional shape
| Attribute | Property (sh:path) | Description |
|---|---|---|
| boundary type | boundaryType | The controlled boundary type, which drives the subClassOf typing into one of the ten closed boundary-type classes: LegalConstraint, RegulatoryConstraint, ResourceConstraint, CompetenceConstraint, JurisdictionalConstraint, ProceduralConstraint, EthicalConstraint, SafetyConstraint, ConfidentialityConstraint, TemporalConstraint. The prohibition/boundary content that individuates the type. A routing input, not stored as a literal. |
| established by | establishedBy | The source CodeProvision that establishes the constraint, via the establishedBy edge. The second type-individuating coordinate: per the scopeNote a constraint type is the boundary it states plus its source provision. Range: CodeProvision. |
3 · Bearer Attributes
SHACL property shape
individual data
| Attribute | Property (sh:path) | Description |
|---|---|---|
| severity | severity | The severity of the constraint in this case (critical, high, medium, low); a per-occasion assessment (Dennis severity ordering) that can differ across cases sharing the same boundary. |
| applicability condition | applicabilityCondition | The situational TRIGGER: the circumstances under which the prohibition applies in this case (the Dennis specification-by-context condition); temporalScope carries the durational window. |
| constrained entity | constrainedEntity | The agent whose conduct the constraint limits, via the outgoing constrainedEntity edge. Range: Agent. |
| temporal scope | temporalScope | The durational WINDOW during which the boundary is in force in this case (e.g. for the duration of the engagement); applicabilityCondition carries the situational trigger under which it applies. |
| source | source | The provision or authority string as extracted, kept verbatim on the individual; each dotted NSPE designation that resolves against the provision registry is also materialized as the establishedBy edge (a non-code source survives only in this literal). |
| constraint statement | constraintStatement | The operative must-not clause, kept verbatim; mirrors skos:definition and is one of the narrative source fields the defeasibility harvest reads from committed TTLs. |
4 · Referenced By
rdfs:range on this class or ancestor
| From | Property | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Action | constrainedBy inherited | Relates an action to constraints that limit or restrict it. The ratified D1 producer (an Action-pass action_constraints field resolved to this edge) shipped without its emitter; the edge is reserved with the Action-side enrichment family (usesResource pattern) and the producer lands with the Step-4 enrichment or the 119 rebuild. Do not deprecate on the zero-use test. |
| Code Provision | establishes inherited | Relates a code provision to the ethical concepts (principles, obligations, constraints) it establishes or defines. |
| State | activatesConstraint inherited | Relates a State to a Constraint that the obtaining of the State activates, bounding the actions available to the role-bearers the state concerns (the S->Cs linkage). |
Source Evidence
Text references
Engineer K should respect that accountability and not be motivated by self-interest in a sustainable solution if the City decides against it.
Source text
Engineer K should respect that accountability and not be motivated by self-interest in a sustainable solution if the City decides against it.
Used in cases 4
@prefix core: <http://proethica.org/ontology/core#> .
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> .
@prefix pcsh: <http://proethica.org/shapes/core#> .
@prefix proeth: <http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#> .
@prefix proeth-prov: <http://proethica.org/provenance#> .
@prefix prov: <http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#> .
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix sh: <http://www.w3.org/ns/shacl#> .
@prefix skos: <http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core#> .
@prefix xsd: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
proeth:ConflictOfInterestAvoidanceConstraint a owl:Class ;
rdfs:label "ConflictOfInterestAvoidanceConstraint" ;
proeth:confidence "0.9" ;
proeth:constraintType "ethical" ;
proeth:textReferences "Engineer K should respect that accountability and not be motivated by self-interest in a sustainable solution if the City decides against it." ;
proeth-prov:discoveredInCase 4,
10,
20,
103 ;
proeth-prov:discoveredInPass 2 ;
proeth-prov:discoveredInSection "discussion" ;
proeth-prov:firstDiscoveredAt "2026-07-05T02:42:52.339535+00:00"^^xsd:dateTime ;
proeth-prov:firstDiscoveredInCase 4 ;
proeth-prov:matchConfidence 0.92 ;
proeth-prov:matchReasoning "The discussion's self-interest restraint is the same concept as the canonical Conflict of Interest Avoidance constraint; the synonym table folds Personal Interest Influence Constraint into ConflictOfInterestAvoidanceConstraint." ;
proeth-prov:matchedOntologyClass <http://proethica.org/ontology/concepts#Conflict_of_Interest_Avoidance> ;
proeth-prov:matchedOntologyLabel "Conflict of Interest Avoidance (Constraint)" ;
proeth-prov:matchesExisting true ;
proeth-prov:sourceText "Engineer K should respect that accountability and not be motivated by self-interest in a sustainable solution if the City decides against it." ;
rdfs:comment "A prohibition on allowing personal or self-interest to influence professional conduct on behalf of a client, here barring the engineer from being motivated by self-interest in a preferred design solution once the client has decided against it." ;
rdfs:subClassOf proeth:EthicalConstraint ;
skos:definition "A prohibition on allowing personal or self-interest to influence professional conduct on behalf of a client, here barring the engineer from being motivated by self-interest in a preferred design solution once the client has decided against it." ;
skos:scopeNote "[Case 103] A prohibition on a professional taking action or making decisions which would divide his loyalties or interests from those of his employer or client, foreclosing conduct that places the professional's own interests against the client's.",
"[Case 10] A prohibition on an engineer advancing their professional career by any improper or questionable method, bounding the means by which employment and professional advancement may be pursued.",
"[Case 20] A prohibition on allowing a personal or competitive self-interest to influence the professional opinions and comments an engineer provides, barring an engineer from using a requested evaluation of a competitor's work as a pretext for gaining a competitive advantage.",
"[Conflict_of_Interest_Avoidance] Constraint established by ethics code provisions" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-07-05T02:42:52.339535+00:00"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasAttributedTo "Case 4 Extraction",
"claude-fable-5" .
pcsh:CaseAnnotationShape a sh:NodeShape ;
rdfs:label "Shared per-case annotation schema (all nine components)"@en ;
rdfs:comment "The cross-component annotation fields on committed case individuals: proeth:confidence (extraction confidence, decimal; all components except Action, whose Step-3 contract carries no confidence field), proeth:textReferences (verbatim supporting quotes, universal), proeth-prov sourceText (the source snippet, on the Step-1/2 provenance layers; Step-3 A/E individuals ground via textReferences only), and the involvement gloss (proeth:caseInvolvement on role individuals, proeth:caseContext on obligation, capability, and constraint individuals). Values are per-individual; the fields do not individuate any type."@en ;
sh:property [ sh:description "Extraction confidence for this individual (0 to 1)." ;
sh:name "confidence" ;
sh:order 1 ;
sh:path proeth:confidence ],
[ sh:description "Verbatim case quotes supporting this individual." ;
sh:name "text references" ;
sh:order 2 ;
sh:path proeth:textReferences ],
[ sh:description "How this individual figures in the case narrative (role individuals; the same text is routed into rdfs:comment)." ;
sh:name "case involvement" ;
sh:order 3 ;
sh:path proeth:caseInvolvement ],
[ sh:description "Grounding context in this case (obligation, capability, and constraint individuals)." ;
sh:name "case context" ;
sh:order 4 ;
sh:path proeth:caseContext ] ;
sh:targetClass core:Action,
core:Capability,
core:Constraint,
core:Event,
core:Obligation,
core:Principle,
core:Resource,
core:Role,
core:State .
pcsh:ConstraintDefinitionShape a sh:NodeShape ;
rdfs:label "Constraint definition schema (type-level, descriptive, field contract)"@en ;
rdfs:comment "What individuates a constraint TYPE: the boundary it states (boundary_type, which drives the subClassOf typing into one of the ten closed boundary-type classes) and the source provision that establishes it. The per-case severity and applicability, the agent it limits, and the action it bounds are per-individual and declared on ConstraintPropertyShape, mirroring the R/P/O/S/Rs/Ca Definition/Property split and the constraint scopeNote (the TYPE is the prohibition plus its source provision; the constrained party, per-occasion applicability, and any exception attach to the case individual). Descriptive only (no validation result); the routing input is the constraint_type schema field (the boundaryType property is its shape-path anchor), not stored as a literal."@en ;
sh:property [ sh:description "The controlled boundary type, which drives the subClassOf typing into one of the ten closed boundary-type classes: LegalConstraint, RegulatoryConstraint, ResourceConstraint, CompetenceConstraint, JurisdictionalConstraint, ProceduralConstraint, EthicalConstraint, SafetyConstraint, ConfidentialityConstraint, TemporalConstraint. The prohibition/boundary content that individuates the type. A routing input, not stored as a literal." ;
sh:name "boundary type" ;
sh:order 1 ;
sh:path proeth:boundaryType ],
[ pcsh:informationalOnly true ;
sh:description "The source CodeProvision that establishes the constraint, via the establishedBy edge. The second type-individuating coordinate: per the scopeNote a constraint type is the boundary it states plus its source provision. Range: CodeProvision." ;
sh:name "established by" ;
sh:order 2 ;
sh:path core:establishedBy ] ;
sh:targetClass core:Constraint .
pcsh:ConstraintPropertyShape a sh:NodeShape ;
rdfs:label "Constraint per-case schema (individual data, non-definitional)"@en ;
rdfs:comment "What a given constraint INDIVIDUAL is described by in a specific case: its per-occasion severity and applicability window, the agent whose conduct it limits, and the action it bounds. These do NOT individuate the constraint TYPE (that is ConstraintDefinitionShape, keyed on the boundary it states and its source provision); their values are per-case, asserted on the individual. Descriptive only."@en ;
sh:property [ sh:description "The severity of the constraint in this case (critical, high, medium, low); a per-occasion assessment (Dennis severity ordering) that can differ across cases sharing the same boundary." ;
sh:name "severity" ;
sh:order 1 ;
sh:path proeth:severity ],
[ sh:description "The situational TRIGGER: the circumstances under which the prohibition applies in this case (the Dennis specification-by-context condition); temporalScope carries the durational window." ;
sh:name "applicability condition" ;
sh:order 2 ;
sh:path proeth:applicabilityCondition ],
[ sh:description "The agent whose conduct the constraint limits, via the outgoing constrainedEntity edge. Range: Agent." ;
sh:name "constrained entity" ;
sh:order 3 ;
sh:path core:constrainedEntity ],
[ sh:description "The durational WINDOW during which the boundary is in force in this case (e.g. for the duration of the engagement); applicabilityCondition carries the situational trigger under which it applies." ;
sh:name "temporal scope" ;
sh:order 4 ;
sh:path proeth:temporalScope ],
[ sh:description "The provision or authority string as extracted, kept verbatim on the individual; each dotted NSPE designation that resolves against the provision registry is also materialized as the establishedBy edge (a non-code source survives only in this literal)." ;
sh:name "source" ;
sh:order 5 ;
sh:path proeth:source ],
[ sh:description "The operative must-not clause, kept verbatim; mirrors skos:definition and is one of the narrative source fields the defeasibility harvest reads from committed TTLs." ;
sh:name "constraint statement" ;
sh:order 6 ;
sh:path proeth:constraintStatement ] ;
sh:targetClass core:Constraint .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
['4', '10', '20', '103']
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
discussion
First discovered
2026-07-05T02:42:52.339535+00:00
First case
4
Match Confidence
0.92
Match Reasoning
The discussion's self-interest restraint is the same concept as the canonical Conflict of Interest Avoidance constraint; the synonym table folds Personal Interest Influence Constraint into ConflictOfInterestAvoidanceConstraint.
Matched Ontology Label
Conflict of Interest Avoidance (Constraint)
Matches Existing
true
Generated
2026-07-05T02:42:52.339535+00:00
Attributed to
['Case 4 Extraction', 'claude-fable-5']