DOCTRINE & DEFINITIONS LIBRARY

Document Class: Foundational Terminology & Interpretive Lexicon

Version: v0.1 (Draft – Not for Public Citation)

I. Purpose of This Document

The purpose of this document is to establish a precise and unambiguous vocabulary for concepts, requirements, principles, and classifications used within the Veritas Ledger Global Evidentiary Integrity Doctrine.

Clarity of definition is a prerequisite to:

• doctrinal interpretation
  
  

• institutional application
  
  

• legal admissibility
  
  

• cross-jurisdictional alignment
  
  

• academic research consistency
  
  

• standards-body translation
  
  

Words used casually in commercial or technical contexts must be re-defined rigorously for evidentiary and custodial use.

II. Definition Categories

Definitions are grouped into four categories:

1. Foundational Evidentiary Concepts
   
   

2. Integrity & Sovereignty Terminology
   
   

3. Continuity & Admissibility Constructs
   
   

4. Governance & Custodial Terms
   
   

This document may expand as the doctrine matures.

III. Foundational Evidentiary Concepts

1. Digital Evidence

Any representation, record, signal, communication, authorization, instruction, observation, decision or event state created, transmitted, stored, or altered in digital form, regardless of storage medium, protocol, or encoding.

2. Evidentiary Record

The canonical, authoritative representation of an event or state, inclusive of contextual metadata required to interpret meaning, origin, and continuity.

3. Primary Evidence vs. Secondary Evidence

• Primary Evidence: Created at the moment of occurrence by the system or entity witnessing, measuring, or recording the event.
  
  

• Secondary Evidence: Derived after the moment of occurrence, including exports, reports, summaries, or human-interpreted narratives.
  
  

4. Event of Record (EOR)

The smallest indivisible evidence-relevant unit of occurrence, bound to a unique time, actor, intent, and context.

5. Chain-of-Truth (COT)

The unbroken, verifiable sequence of event, metadata, custody, storage, interpretation, and transfer from origin to adjudication.

IV. Integrity & Sovereignty Terminology

1. Evidentiary Integrity

The continuous preservation of original state, meaning, context, and authenticity such that no undetected modification, loss, or misinterpretation is possible.

2. Evidentiary Sovereignty

A condition wherein no single entity, including the originator, custodian, vendor, or adversary, can alter, erase, replace, or reinterpret authoritative evidence without the alteration being detectable and provable.

3. Tamper-Detectability vs. Tamper-Resistance

• Tamper-Detectability: Modifications are provably evident, regardless of whether prevention succeeded.
  
  

• Tamper-Resistance: Modifications are difficult or costly, but may not be provably detectable.
  The doctrine prioritizes detectability over prevention.
  
  

4. Non-Repudiation (Evidentiary Context)

The inability for any participant, custodian, or system to deny the existence, meaning, or origin of a record once created, irrespective of their future intent.

5. Continuity of Reality (COR)

The requirement that evidence must correspond to an event that actually occurred — data without real-world correspondence is not evidence.

V. Continuity & Admissibility Constructs

1. Provenance Sufficiency

Evidence must include complete origin context, including:

• who or what created it
  
  

• when
  
  

• where
  
  

• under what conditions
  
  

• under what identity or authority
  
  

2. Jurisdictional Neutrality

The meaning of a record cannot change based on legal jurisdiction, storage location, or institutional interpretation.

3. Temporal Durability

Evidence must remain valid long after the original technology, vendor, protocol, or hardware is obsolete.

4. Interpretive Independence

Evidence must not require:

• proprietary software
  
  

• privileged insight
  
  

• unpublished algorithms
  
  

• unverifiable external attestations
  
  

5. Admissibility Alignment Layer

The layer of doctrinal rules ensuring evidence remains usable in:

• legal disputes
  
  

• arbitration
  
  

• audit
  
  

• regulatory enforcement
  
  

• insurance adjudication
  
  

• historical record preservation
  
  

VI. Governance & Custodial Terms

1. Doctrine

A structured, principled set of interpretation rules defining what constitutes valid evidentiary truth.

2. Custodian

An individual or entity responsible for protecting and preserving the doctrine, not owning or commercializing it.

3. Governance Perimeter (7-Seat Model)

A future multi-institutional stewardship council designed to prevent capture while ensuring legitimacy.

4. Version Control

A formal mechanism through which doctrinal texts evolve with traceable justification, never silently modified.

5. Neutral Zone (NZ)

The intellectual and legal space where evidentiary standards are formed and debated without vendor, political, or geopolitical pressure.

VII. Doctrine Interpretation Rules

Any term used within the doctrine must be interpreted under the following rules:

1. Original textual intent supersedes derivative interpretation
   
   

2. Legal convenience does not supersede evidentiary truth
   
   

3. Vendor definitions are non-authoritative
   
   

4. Absence of evidence is not evidence unless continuity was provably maintained
   
   

5. Future technological capability does not retroactively validate prior evidence gaps
   
   

VIII. Status Notice

This document is non-final, subject to controlled revision, and may not be quoted as authoritative in legal, academic, or regulatory settings until version 1.0 publication.

Veritas Ledger Foundation – Definitions Library (v0.1)

Custodial Draft – Not for distribution beyond private consultation