Signal-Time-Authority Runtime Oversight: A Pre-Commitment Controllability Framework

This record is Paper 1 of the Signal-Time-Authority (STA) Series. Paper 1 defines Signal-Time-Authority (STA) as a pre-commitment controllability framework for runtime AI oversight. The central claim is that runtime oversight should be considered control-relevant only when usable signal, remaining time, effective authority, and valid intervention policy remain jointly adequate before an externally consequential commitment event. This paper is a theory and framework paper. It does not claim to prove AI safety, does not provide real-world deployment validation, and does not replace domain-specific safety standards, certification, or governance review. Companion papers in the STA Series cover synthetic toy simulation evidence, runtime authority governor architecture, physical AI safe-stop reasoning, and governance / assurance-case framing. This is a PublicRelease v1.0 record.