Admissible Authority at the Moment of Execution: A Formal Definition for Life-Critical System Governance

This document defines admissible authority as the condition under which a system action is permitted to occur in a life-critical environment. It establishes that authority is not derived from prior approval, certification, or assumed system state, but must be evidenced contemporaneously at the exact moment of execution. The definition introduces a deterministic model in which execution is permitted only where authority is demonstrably valid in real time, and denied in all other conditions. It formalises admissibility as a binary state governed by identity, scope, evidential integrity, temporal validity, and absence of contradiction. This reframes accountability from retrospective attribution to immediate evidential validity. Authority is no longer reconstructed after failure but proven at the point of reliance. Where admissible authority cannot be evidenced, the action is not valid and must not occur. The document establishes admissible authority as a precondition for execution and a foundational requirement for life-critical system governance.