RFC 0005 — Governance Event Model

Status: Draft Author: Martín Nicolás Sánchez Morales Created: 2026

Summary

This RFC defines the governance event model used by Janus systems.

Governance events represent auditable records that capture evaluations, findings, and accountable decisions.

These events are recorded in AUDIT_LOG.

Motivation

Janus governance relies on explicit records to ensure traceability and accountability.

Without a defined event model, governance actions may become ambiguous or inconsistent across implementations.

This RFC defines the minimal structure and purpose of governance events within the Janus model.

Specification

Governance events

A governance event is a record representing a governance-relevant observation, evaluation, or decision.

Governance events are outputs of governance evaluation flows applied to evidence (E+ and/or E−).

Governance events are appended to AUDIT_LOG exclusively through the Audit Writer mechanism (RFC 0007).

Governance events MUST be written to:

AUDIT_LOG

Canonical governance events

Janus Core Lite defines the following canonical governance events:

• OMISSION_DETECTED
• HUMAN_DECISION

Future specifications MAY introduce additional governance events.

Event context

Governance events SHOULD reference the relevant operational context, including:

• related domain events in MANAGEMENT_LOG
• relevant schema context from SCHEMA_LOG
• supporting evidence (E+ or E−)

Event responsibility

Governance events represent accountable records.

Systems MUST ensure that governance events cannot be generated outside authorized governance flows.

Rationale

Governance systems require explicit event records in order to reconstruct decision processes and audit institutional actions.

By defining governance events explicitly, Janus ensures that evaluations, omissions, and human decisions are consistently recorded across implementations.

Backwards compatibility

Not applicable (initial governance event model specification).

Security considerations

Risks related to governance events include:

• unauthorized event generation
• incomplete event context
• tampered event records

Implementations must ensure append-only event recording and traceable governance flows.

License

MIT License