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Decision Record Archive

Why this chapter matters

A decision archive gives the future a way to understand the past without turning old choices into permanent truth. This chapter preserves authority, alternatives, uncertainty, dissent, and correction so a human reader can recover context and an AI reader can avoid treating precedent as permission.

Continue to the Event Chronicle Standard to place decisions in the wider sequence of what happened.

Purpose

This standard preserves the institutional record of consequential decisions so that later reviewers can reconstruct what was known, who acted, which authority was invoked, and how the outcome changed. It applies to active, superseded, corrected, and closed records.

Archive package

An archive package should include the source identifier and digest where available, authority and approval evidence, decision state, evidence links, material dissent, access classification, retention basis, corrections, supersession links, dependent records, and restoration instructions. Personal or sensitive fields should be minimised and separately protected without breaking the audit trail.

  • MEM2-R001: Each archived decision SHALL retain identifier, authority, evidence links, outcome, limitations, corrections, supersession, and retention state.
  • MEM2-R002: Retrieval SHALL preserve access purpose, scope, protected fields, dissent, and audit evidence.
  • MEM2-R003: An archive copy SHALL not replace the source record without integrity, completeness, and restoration evidence.
  • MEM2-R004: Unknown, unavailable, conflicting, or altered records SHALL remain explicit and block dependent historical claims where warranted.
  • MEM2-R005: Archiving does not create authority, consent, or permission.
  • MEM2-R006: Archive review SHALL identify source authority, evidence completeness, access purpose, retention, legal hold, correction, supersession, and restoration state.
  • MEM2-R007: Retrieval SHALL preserve context, dissent, protected-field handling, and the distinction between source and archive copy.
  • MEM2-R008: Corrections, deletion, and supersession SHALL append attributable evidence without erasing accountability or legal-hold records.
  • MEM2-R009: This standard SHALL NOT operate a live archive, alter retention, delete records, or disclose private material.

Retrieval and correction

Retrieval should record requester, purpose, scope, fields disclosed, authorisation, and return status. A correction appends the corrected fact, reason, evidence, effective time, and reviewer while preserving the prior version. Supersession links the newer decision and explains which conclusions remain valid. An archive failure should be reported and should not be silently filled with an inferred copy.

Operating model and interpretation cases

Archive review compares source, authority, evidence, outcome, dissent, dependants, retention, legal hold, access, correction, supersession, and restoration. An archive copy supports reconstruction only to the extent its identity, integrity, completeness, and applicability are established.

  • Conforming: Source, authority, evidence, dissent, correction, retention, legal hold, and restoration are linked.
  • Prohibited: Archive persistence creates authority.
  • Boundary: An incomplete archive supports a bounded historical claim.
  • Failure: Missing source or corrupted copy pauses dependent history.
  • Loophole: Supersession or deletion removes accountability evidence.
  • Misuse: Retrieval exposes protected fields beyond purpose.
  • Care-control: Preservation supports continuity while respecting privacy and agency.

Design evidence

Archive review should reconcile the source record, authority, evidence register, dissent, outcome, dependants, retention rule, legal hold, access log, correction chain, and restoration test. A missing source or incomplete package should produce a bounded historical claim rather than an inferred replacement.

This Draft authorises no live archive, retention change, or deletion operation. It does not override legal hold, privacy, access, or constitutional requirements.