Deterministic Enforcement: Runtime Binding, Execution, and Trace Conformance

This paper formalizes the execution mechanics of protocol-governed systems. Building on the protocol specification model defined in Paper 5 [Bachi, 2026e], it specifies how ratified behavioral law is deterministically enforced at runtime. We define the execution engine’s architectural responsibilities, DAG compilation from protocol artifacts, concern-prefix routing, determinism guarantees, trace schema and structure, and cross-engine behavioral equivalence. The conformance testing framework is formalized as the mechanism for verifying that execution faithfully implements protocol law. This paper does not address protocol specification (Paper 5), mutation semantics (Paper 7), security properties (Paper 8), or economic implications (Paper 9). Its scope is enforcement architecture: how the execution layer interprets and enforces protocol artifacts without deviation.