IETF Internet-DraftExperimental·JEP-Core 0.7

A verifiable event layer for judgment-related statements.

JEP defines a compact signed event format for Judgment, Delegation, Termination, and Verification across human, organizational, software, and autonomous agent systems.

It provides a neutral way to identify an event, verify its signed content, reference related objects, report which checks were actually performed, and safely process repeated delivery without deciding the substantive truth or external consequence of the statement.

Event Structure
Event Identity↓
Verb↓
Signed Statement↓
Reference↓
Independent Checks
↓
Acceptance(when applicable)
accepted / already_accepted / rejected / indeterminate

(who, id) → J / D / T / V → JCS + Signature → Typed Reference → Explicit Check Results

What JEP defines

JEP defines a narrow protocol layer for signed judgment-related statements. Each event has a stable Event Identity, defined protocol semantics, signed content, optional references and extensions, and independently reportable validation checks.

JEP separates protocol-observable facts from external claims. A cryptographically valid event can establish properties of the signed statement without proving that the underlying judgment is true, authorized, legally valid, causally effective, or correct.

Stable Event Identity

(who, id) identifies one logical event across retransmission, storage, export, and re-verification.

Signed Content

JCS canonicalization and a signature profile protect the signed event content.

Independent Checks

Validation reports which checks actually passed, failed, were not performed, or could not be determined.

Idempotent Acceptance

Repeated delivery of the same Event Identity must not repeatedly apply the same acceptance effect within one acceptance domain.

Four event verbs

J — Judgment

Represents the signed statement that an actor expressed or adopted a judgment about a claim, choice, classification, recommendation, or proposed result.

A Judgment event does not by itself prove that the judged claim is true, authorized, or externally effective.

D — Delegation

Represents the signed statement that an actor declared a delegation to a delegatee within an explicit scope.

delegatee + scope

A Delegation event records a delegation claim. It does not by itself establish legal, organizational, or technical authority to delegate.

T — Termination

Represents the signed statement that an actor declared a referenced target no longer eligible for future reliance within a stated termination scope.

ref + termination_scope

Termination does not delete history, erase past facts, retroactively invalidate an event, or prove that every downstream system stopped relying on the target.

V — Verification

Represents the signed statement that an actor evaluated a referenced target under an explicitly declared verification scope and recorded the result of that evaluation.

ref + verification_scope + result

A Verification event must not imply verification beyond its declared scope.

J and V compared

J: “I reject proposal X.”

V: “I evaluated artifact X under integrity check S and obtained FAIL.”

Related specifications

Research papers