feat(casework): court-record binder for accused binds and case dates

cases/migrations/0056_correct_case_date_help_text.py

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# Generated by Django 5.2.15 on 2026-08-07 19:45
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('cases', '0055_alter_case_banner_url_alter_case_thumbnail_url'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='case',
+            name='case_end_date',
+            field=models.DateField(blank=True, help_text='When the case concluded — the deciding hearing date. Leave empty for a case still being heard: a value here renders the case as concluded on the public site', null=True),
+        ),
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='case',
+            name='case_start_date',
+            field=models.DateField(blank=True, help_text='When the case began — the court registration date for a case with a court record', null=True),
+        ),
+    ]

cases/models.py

@@ -642,10 +642,15 @@ class Case(models.Model):
     )
     # Date fields
     case_start_date = models.DateField(
-        null=True, blank=True, help_text="When the alleged incident began"
+        null=True, blank=True,
+        help_text="When the case began — the court registration date for a "
+                  "case with a court record",
     )
     case_end_date = models.DateField(
-        null=True, blank=True, help_text="When the alleged incident ended"
+        null=True, blank=True,
+        help_text="When the case concluded — the deciding hearing date. Leave "
+                  "empty for a case still being heard: a value here renders the "
+                  "case as concluded on the public site",
     )
 
     # Entity relationships live on the CaseEntityRelationship bind (the

casework/README.md

@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ flowchart LR
 | timeline | `enrich_timeline` | `timeline` | `patch_field` | yes ¹ | premium |
 | allegations | `enrich_allegations` | `key_allegations` | `patch_field` | yes ¹ | premium |
 | entities | `enrich_related_entities` | `entities` (+ NES entities with `--create-entities`) | `patch_field`, `POST /api/entities` | yes ¹ | premium |
+| court_record | `enrich_court_record` | `case_start_date`, `case_end_date`, `entities` (accused) (+ NES person entities) | `patch_case`, `POST /api/entities` | yes ¹ | — (no LLM) |
 | ledger | `ledger` | ledger JSON (local file) | none (reads run logs) | local file | — |
 
 ¹ Remote write requires **`--apply` + `--allow-remote-writes` + `--api-token`** together.

casework/common/api.py

@@ -13,9 +13,13 @@
 class EntityAlreadyExists(Exception):
     """A create POST hit an entity that is already there.
 
-    Its own type because the caller's response is to BIND the existing entity,
-    not to record an error: someone -- a caseworker, or an earlier run over the
-    same case -- got there first, which is the outcome we wanted. The server
+    Its own type because the caller's response is usually to BIND the existing
+    entity, not to record an error: someone -- a caseworker, or an earlier run
+    over the same case -- got there first, which is the outcome we wanted. NOT
+    universally, though: a caller that reached the create BECAUSE it could not
+    identify the entity by name must refuse instead, since the collision says
+    only that the slug is taken, not that it is taken by this person. See
+    `casework.enrich_court_record.resolve_defendant`. The server
     answers 409 `ENTITY_EXISTS`: `_map_service_value_error` maps the duplicate
     `@id` check (`entities/services/publication/service.py:68`) to 409, and
     reserves 422 for `validate_create_payload` failures (`entities/views.py:220,
@@ -384,6 +388,73 @@ def get_court_case_entities(self, court, number, timeout=60):
                 return rows
             page += 1
 
+    def get_courtcase(self, court, number, timeout=60):
+        """One NGM court case: registration date, case_status, parties summary.
+
+        The composite-key detail route, keyed on (court, case_number). Public on
+        the read plane, so this works with no credentials at all.
+        """
+        path = (f"/courtcases/{urllib.parse.quote(str(court), safe='')}"
+                f"/{urllib.parse.quote(str(number), safe='')}/")
+        return self.get(path, timeout=timeout)
+
+    def list_hearings(self, court, number, timeout=60):
+        """Every hearing row on one court case, following pagination.
+
+        Rows are NOT returned in date order -- the deciding hearing can sort
+        before an earlier one. Callers pick by max `hearing_date_ad`, never by
+        list position.
+
+        Pages by page NUMBER and ignores the response's `next` URL, for the same
+        reason `get_court_case_entities` does: `get()` concatenates path onto
+        base_url, so an absolute `next` would produce a doubled prefix.
+        """
+        path = (f"/courtcases/{urllib.parse.quote(str(court), safe='')}"
+                f"/{urllib.parse.quote(str(number), safe='')}/hearings")
+        rows, page = [], 1
+        while True:
+            data = self.get(path, {"page": page, "page_size": 100}, timeout=timeout)
+            batch = data.get("results") or []
+            rows.extend(batch)
+            if len(batch) < 100:
+                return rows
+            page += 1
+
+    def patch_case(self, slug, *, fields=(), lists=(), timeout=60, if_match=None):
+        """Write scalar fields AND whole-list paths in ONE conditional request.
+
+        `fields` is `[(name, value)]` of scalars; `lists` is `[(path, items)]`
+        of whole-list paths (`WHOLE_LIST_PATHS`).
+
+        WHY THIS EXISTS. `patch_fields` refuses whole-list paths and
+        `replace_list` takes one path at a time, so a caller writing
+        `case_start_date` and `entities` had to send two requests -- and the
+        first changes the ETag, so the second 412s under the ETag read at the
+        top. `build_replace_ops` records the same failure from `enrich_card`.
+
+        THE MERGE-FIRST CONTRACT OF `replace_list` APPLIES IN FULL to every
+        entry in `lists`: the server deletes every existing join row for that
+        path and recreates from exactly the items given. Pass the FULL merged
+        list, never a delta. Omitting a row deletes it, with no warning and no
+        recovery.
+
+        Empty in -> no request and `{}` out, so a case with nothing to change
+        costs no write.
+        """
+        fields, lists = list(fields), list(lists)
+        for name, _ in fields:
+            if name in WHOLE_LIST_PATHS:
+                raise ValueError(
+                    f"{name} is a whole-list path -- pass it in `lists`, which "
+                    "carries the merge-first contract")
+        for path, _ in lists:
+            if path not in WHOLE_LIST_PATHS:
+                raise ValueError(f"{path} is not a whole-list path")
+        ops = build_replace_ops(fields) + build_replace_ops(lists)
+        if not ops:
+            return {}
+        return self._patch(slug, ops, timeout, if_match=if_match)
+
     def search_entities(self, query, *, page_size=ENTITY_SEARCH_PAGE_SIZE,
                         pages=ENTITY_SEARCH_MAX_PAGES, timeout=60):
         """Candidate NES entities for `query`, from the unified search endpoint.

casework/common/llm.py

@@ -38,6 +38,10 @@
     # into this stage as `--only title`, and the brief resolves the conflict in
     # favour of cheap. See `casework/enrich_card.py`'s deviation 2.
     "card": "cheap",
+    # Registered because `test_stage_names_match_llm_tier_names` pins the pair,
+    # not because a model runs. `court_record` makes ZERO LLM calls -- a run
+    # that spends no tokens is its success case, not a shortfall.
+    "court_record": "cheap",
 }
 DEFAULT_TIER = "cheap"
 

casework/common/pipeline.py

@@ -183,6 +183,17 @@ class Stage:
         requires_fields=("description",),
         requires_stages=("description",),
     ),
+    # `court_record` reads the case's NGM court record over HTTP -- not a bound
+    # document -- so unlike `entities` it needs no material and no `convert`
+    # pass. That independence is the point: the accused path used to live inside
+    # `enrich_related_entities`, where five gates it had no use for (the
+    # already-enriched skip, the MARKDOWN-role prerequisite, the no-source gate,
+    # the empty-prompt gate, and any LLM failure) cost a case all its defendants
+    # whenever its press release lacked a MARKDOWN role.
+    "court_record": Stage(
+        "court_record",
+        provides=("case_start_date", "case_end_date", "entities"),
+    ),
 }
 
 

casework/court_record.py

@@ -1,16 +1,21 @@
 """Accused names, read from the case's own NGM court record.
 
-CURRENTLY UNWIRED -- NOTHING IMPORTS `defendant_names`. This module is complete and
-tested; it just has no caller yet. `enrich_related_entities` used to call it, and
-that was removed: reading accused needs neither a document nor an LLM, so sitting
-inside a document-and-LLM enricher put it behind five gates it has no use for (the
-already-enriched skip, the MARKDOWN-role prerequisite, the no-source gate, the
-empty-prompt gate, and any LLM failure). A case with a complete court record bound
-zero defendants whenever its press-release PDF lacked a MARKDOWN role.
-
-The intended home is its own CLI -- pure HTTP, no model, no token spend, minutes
-across the corpus instead of hours. That is pending a decision; do not delete this
-in the meantime, and do not wire it back into an LLM enricher.
+WHO CALLS WHAT. `casework.enrich_court_record` is this module's CLI -- pure HTTP,
+no model, no token spend -- and it calls `court_record_for_case`, the full read
+(detail + hearings + parties), because it needs the dates and the party rows'
+`nes_id`/`address`, not just the names. `defendant_names` is the narrow read for
+callers that want ONLY the names; it is kept for them and is not on the enricher's
+path. Neither is authoritative over the other on WHO COUNTS AS A DEFENDANT: both
+route that judgement through `is_defendant`/`party_name` below, so the filter, the
+strip and the de-dup cannot drift apart.
+
+Do not wire either of them back into an LLM enricher. `enrich_related_entities`
+used to call this module, and that was removed: reading accused needs neither a
+document nor an LLM, so sitting inside a document-and-LLM enricher put it behind
+five gates it has no use for (the already-enriched skip, the MARKDOWN-role
+prerequisite, the no-source gate, the empty-prompt gate, and any LLM failure). A
+case with a complete court record bound zero defendants whenever its
+press-release PDF lacked a MARKDOWN role.
 
 WHY THIS EXISTS. Accused binds used to have no source at all: the LLM prompt's
 PART 3 extracted accused names, counted them, and threw them away. The obvious
@@ -36,20 +41,74 @@
 """
 
 import logging
+import re
 import urllib.error
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-# A verdict is legal only on an accused bind (the `outcome_only_on_accused` CHECK
-# constraint). Every case in this corpus is a Special Court `-CR-` case, which
-# means CIAA filed a charge sheet, so 'charged' is true by construction rather
-# than inferred. Sent explicitly so the claim is visible in the request body
-# instead of implied by the API's omitted-outcome fallback
-# (`cases/api_views.py`).
-CHARGED = "charged"
-
 _COURTCASE_MARKER = "/courtcase/"
 
+#: The one spelling of "defendant" NGM's party rows use (`courts.models`'s
+#: `CaseEntity.side` is free text, documented `plaintiff | defendant`).
+_DEFENDANT_SIDE = "defendant"
+
+#: Case-type codes whose defendant column names an actual defendant. `""` is
+#: the pre-FY073 format (`93-068-0194`), which carries no type segment and is
+#: a prosecution -- 139 references in the corpus. Everything else (`OA`, `RE`,
+#: the `W*` writ codes, and any code not yet seen) is an allow-list miss and
+#: skips: an unrecognised code risks naming a government office as accused,
+#: where skipping one only costs a bind a later run recovers.
+BINDABLE_CODES = frozenset({"CR", "CB", "FJ", ""})
+
+_CODE_SEGMENT = re.compile(r"-([A-Za-z]+)-")
+
+#: The pre-FY073 shape: three all-ASCII-digit groups, nothing else (`93-068-0194`).
+_LEGACY_NUMBER = re.compile(r"^[0-9]+-[0-9]+-[0-9]+$")
+
+#: Returned for a number that is neither `-<letters>-` coded nor the legacy
+#: all-digit shape -- NOT in `BINDABLE_CODES`, so it skips and logs rather
+#: than joining the `""` (pre-FY073 prosecution) bucket by default. Allow-list,
+#: not deny-list: a number this parser cannot read is treated the same as an
+#: unrecognised code, never as a silent prosecution.
+UNPARSEABLE = "UNPARSEABLE"
+
+
+def case_number_code(number):
+    """The court's case-type letters from `079-CR-0151`, upper-cased.
+
+    `""` only for the genuine pre-FY073 shape (`93-068-0194`); anything else
+    this cannot read -- wrong separator, letters in the wrong place, a
+    non-ASCII transliteration -- returns `UNPARSEABLE`, never `""`, so it
+    cannot be mistaken for that legacy prosecution format.
+    """
+    text = str(number or "")
+    match = _CODE_SEGMENT.search(text)
+    if match:
+        return match.group(1).upper()
+    return "" if _LEGACY_NUMBER.match(text) else UNPARSEABLE
+
+
+def is_defendant(party):
+    """Whether this party row names a defendant rather than a plaintiff.
+
+    The ONE place that test lives. `enrich_court_record._accused_binds` needs
+    the whole party row (its `nes_id` and `address`) and so cannot call
+    `defendant_names`, but it must not re-spell the filter either: a side test
+    that drifts between the two would bind plaintiffs on one path and not the
+    other, and `नेपाल सरकार` is the plaintiff on every case in this corpus.
+    """
+    return (party.get("side") or "").strip().lower() == _DEFENDANT_SIDE
+
+
+def party_name(party):
+    """The party's name, stripped, or "" when the row carries none.
+
+    Shared with `is_defendant` for the same reason: the de-dup on both paths
+    keys on this exact string, so one path stripping and the other not would
+    make the same person two entities.
+    """
+    return (party.get("name") or "").strip()
+
 
 def court_ref(iri):
     """`(court, case_number)` from a courtcase IRI, or None.
@@ -105,11 +164,55 @@ def defendant_names(api, case):
             continue
 
         for party in parties:
-            if (party.get("side") or "").strip().lower() != "defendant":
+            if not is_defendant(party):
                 continue
-            name = (party.get("name") or "").strip()
+            name = party_name(party)
             if not name or name in seen:
                 continue
             seen.add(name)
             names.append(name)
     return names, skips
+
+
+def court_record_for_case(api, case):
+    """`(records, skips)` -- the full court record behind every reference on `case`.
+
+    Each record is `{"court", "number", "detail", "hearings", "parties"}`. The
+    three reads are made per reference; any one of them failing drops that
+    reference into `skips` with a human-readable reason and moves on, because 9
+    of the 49 published court references 404 and one stale number must not cost
+    a case its other references.
+
+    Deliberately separate from `defendant_names`, which answers the narrower
+    "who are the defendants" question and stays the entry point for callers that
+    need only names.
+    """
+    refs = [ref for ref in (court_ref(raw) for raw in (case.get("court_cases") or []))
+            if ref]
+    if not refs:
+        return [], ["no court reference on the case: neither dates nor accused "
+                    "can be read from the court record"]
+
+    records, skips = [], []
+    for court, number in refs:
+        try:
+            record = {
+                "court": court,
+                "number": number,
+                "detail": api.get_courtcase(court, number) or {},
+                "hearings": api.list_hearings(court, number) or [],
+                "parties": api.get_court_case_entities(court, number) or [],
+            }
+        except urllib.error.HTTPError as exc:
+            skips.append(f"court reference {court}/{number} could not be read "
+                         f"(HTTP {exc.code})")
+            logger.warning("court record %s/%s unreadable: HTTP %s",
+                           court, number, exc.code)
+            continue
+        except Exception as exc:  # noqa: BLE001 - network, decode, anything else: a read failure is a skip
+            skips.append(f"court reference {court}/{number} could not be read "
+                         f"({type(exc).__name__})")
+            logger.warning("court record %s/%s unreadable: %s", court, number, exc)
+            continue
+        records.append(record)
+    return records, skips