The substrate that makes legal accountability for AI agents possible.
Today there is no machine-enforceable answer to “this agent acted on behalf of this principal under this delegation.” Disputes settle by deposition. Insurance excludes AI loss. Contracts say “use commercially reasonable effort” because nothing better exists. KYE Protocol™ changes that — every privileged agent action carries a signed Authority Chain™ + Purpose Permission™ + Decision Map™, replayable from public keys alone by counsel, regulator, or arbitrator.
A productised legal-pack workspace + the four primitives a contract needs.
- Authority Chain™. Every privileged agent action carries a signed chain back to the named human principal who delegated it. "Agent X acted under delegation D from Principal P at time T" stops being an assertion and becomes a verifiable byte string. Replayable from public keys alone — counsel does not need vendor cooperation.
- Purpose Permission™, scope, revocation. The contract clause "agent may act only for purpose P, scope Q, revocable within Z seconds" becomes literal URN-addressable primitives:
kye:purpose-permission:…+kye:delegation:…+kye:tenant:…. A court enforces by reference to bytes, not by inferring intent from logs. - Evidence Pack™ + Replay-Proof™. Per-decision signed envelope retrievable by ID:
GET /v1/evidence-packs/{decision_id}. Ed25519 signature against the issuer's published JWKS — tamper-evident, vendor-cooperation-free, admissible under FRE 901(b)(9), satisfies UNCITRAL MLES Art 6/8 reliability presumption. - Multi-regime crosswalk. The same signed envelope simultaneously answers UNCITRAL MLES + English CPR Pt 31 + US FRE 901 + NY Convention Art V + LCIA / ICC rules + EU AI Act Art 13 + GDPR Art 22 + Brussels I Recast Art 7(2). One artefact, every jurisdiction.
Agents are being deployed faster than the law that governs them.
A procurement agent makes a wire transfer to the wrong supplier. A clinical-AI agent recommends a treatment that turns out to be off-label. A customer-service agent commits a refund the company never authorised. Today, the answer to “was the agent allowed to do that?” is a six-month forensic exercise across logs that were never designed to answer it. KYE™ is the first protocol that makes the answer a single API call — GET /v1/evidence-packs/{decision_id} — returning a signed envelope a court can verify offline without your cooperation.
See it working today — KYE Estate Planning Authority Console™.
Estate planning is the closest neighbour to dispute-resolution casework: regulated, evidence-bound, every matter ends in an authorised final state with a signed pack a regulator can audit. KYE™ already ships the Estate Planning Authority Console™ end-to-end — deterministic drafting, bounded AI Case Checker, six-state boundary engine (within-adviser-authority / manager-review / solicitor-review / outside-scope / authority-invalid / evidence-insufficient), authority finality, replayable envelopes. The same primitives drive the Legal Pack™.
The Legal Pack™ pilot uses the same governed-workspace shape: signed matter chain, bounded delegated AI, jurisdiction-bound authority, regulator-grade evidence envelope. Where EP draws on SRA + STEP + IHT; legal draws on UNCITRAL + CPR + FRE + LCIA + EU AI Act.
From six-month deposition to 48-hour settlement.
kye:delegation:…-cfo authority, on the supplier on file at decision time, to the correct IBAN. Counterparty counsel accepted as conclusive. Settled in 48h. Zero depositions. Zero discovery cost above retainer.
balance
2. Agent-as-contracting-party
A SaaS vendor sells an “AI procurement agent on your behalf.” The vendor contract today says “commercially reasonable effort” because no machine-enforceable concept of agent-scope exists. With KYE™, the contract clause becomes: kye:purpose-permission:X + scope:Y + revocable-at:Z — literal URN-addressable primitives. Insurance carriers (4 active AI E&O policies) recognise the same primitives as in-scope proof of “Insured Event Demonstration.”
Counsel, GC, litigators, arbitrators, and insurers.
- General Counsel. You sign off on AI-agent deployment across procurement, legal-ops, customer service. Today you accept a vendor's "commercially reasonable effort" clause because nothing better exists. KYE™ replaces it with literal URN-addressable scope; refusals are signed exhibits you can submit without vendor cooperation.
- Disputes / litigation partner. You spend six months on discovery to answer "was the agent allowed to do that?". KYE™ resolves it in one API call:
GET /v1/evidence-packs/{decision_id}→ signed envelope verifiable offline. Pre-litigation settlement becomes the default outcome. - Arbitrator / court-appointed expert. You evaluate the reliability of electronic evidence under UNCITRAL MLES Art 8 or FRE 901(b)(9). KYE™'s Replay-Proof™ envelope clears the reliability presumption without expert testimony or vendor cross-examination.
- AI E&O / cyber insurer. You exclude AI-driven loss because you cannot price what you cannot verify. KYE™ gives the insured a per-incident signed envelope you can use as the "Insured Event Demonstration." 4 active AI E&O carriers already recognise the primitives.
- Compliance / DPO. You report on GDPR Art 22 automated-decision compliance. KYE™'s per-decision Evidence Pack™ proves the human-in-the-loop step on every
require_approvalflow — no sampling, no log forensics.
Every signed Evidence Pack™ simultaneously answers multiple legal regimes.
The same artefact — one signed envelope — satisfies the evidentiary bar across electronic-signature law, civil discovery rules, arbitration enforceability, automated-decision regulation, and AI-transparency obligations. One Evidence Pack™, all jurisdictions.
| Framework | Clause | How Evidence Pack™ answers it |
|---|---|---|
| UNCITRAL MLES | Art 6 · Reliable electronic signature | Decision Map™ Ed25519 signature verifiable against published JWKS. |
| UNCITRAL MLES | Art 8 · Reliability presumption | Signed bytes + Replay-Proof™ against published JWKS → presumed reliable. |
| English CPR | Pt 31 + PD 31B · e-disclosure | Single decision_id resolves to full chain; no manual collection or pre-disclosure review. |
| US Federal Rules of Evidence | 901(b)(9) · System authentication | Public-key verification satisfies “process or system that produces an accurate result.” |
| NY Convention | Art V(1)(b) · Enforceability | Signed evidence reduces “denial of opportunity to present case” risk. |
| LCIA / ICC Arbitration | Evidence rules | Signed Evidence Pack™ admitted as conclusive without expert testimony. |
| EU AI Act | Art 13 · Transparency obligations | Decision Map™ + Purpose Permission™ satisfy the “interpretable for the user” duty. |
| GDPR | Art 22 · Right not to be subject to automated decision | Per-decision Evidence Pack™ proves human-in-the-loop for require_approval flows. |
| Brussels I Recast | Art 7(2) · Jurisdiction | Decision-time jurisdiction binding supports counterparty's chosen forum. |
What a contract clause looks like with KYE™.
Today, contracts governing agent behaviour are aspirational because the primitives don't exist. KYE™ ships every primitive a clause needs:
- Authority Chain™ — “Agent X may act only under a delegation traceable to a named human principal.” Enforceable: every action's signed chain is replayable.
- Purpose Permission™ — “Agent X may act only for purpose P, with scope Q, attenuable but never broadened.” Enforceable: the URN
kye:purpose-permission:…is the contract term. - Scope attenuation — “Sub-agent Y inherits a strict subset of X's authority.” Enforceable: scope arithmetic is part of the Authority Engine.
- Revocation — “Principal may revoke authority effective within Z seconds.” Enforceable: revocation propagation latency is measurable and signed.
- Evidence Pack™ — “Every action produces an admissible record.” Enforceable: each decision has a signed envelope retrievable by ID.
- Replay-Proof™ — “Records are tamper-evident and verifiable without vendor cooperation.” Enforceable: anyone with the published JWKS can verify offline.
- Jurisdiction binding — “Agent X operates only within jurisdiction J.” Enforceable: signed cross-border-evidence envelope on every cross-border movement.
A contract that cites kye:purpose-permission:… + kye:delegation:… + kye:tenant:… is a contract a court can enforce by reference to bytes — not by inferring intent from vendor logs that may or may not have been preserved.
Two routes — Tier-1 / Custom for global firms, £60k/year Legal Pack™ for everyone else.
Tier-1 / Custom
For magic-circle firms, multi-jurisdiction litigation practices, large in-house GC offices, and tier-1 banks' legal arms. Bespoke 12-week engagement scoped under NDA.
- NDA + scoping call set the boundary; bespoke SKU shape
- Dual-channel sign-off on every irreversible legal action
- Named partner engineer + named back-up engineer
- Quarterly attestation cadence (vs annual on the public ladder)
- Regulator-defined evidence-retention windows (>7 years where required)
- On-site review options for cross-border disputes practice
Contact for pricing.
Network
For franchise legal-services networks, multi-branch firms, and ALSPs (alternative legal-service providers). All matter types across every branch; co-signed solicitor-review handover; independent audit-firm sampling using Replay-Proof™ artefacts. 10-week engagement.
- All matter types across every branch
- Co-signed solicitor-review handover envelope
- Credential migration from incumbent practice-management system
- Independent audit-firm sampling using Replay-Proof™
- Signed per-branch end-of-pilot evidence packs
Practice
Legal Pack™ — £60k/year add-on. For disputes practices, in-house legal teams, and mid-market law firms. Includes the General Counsel Report™ + Dispute Resolution Pack™ templates, contract-clause library (UNCITRAL MLES + FRE 901 + LCIA evidence-rules language), per-decision Evidence Pack™ retention (7-year default, configurable), and quarterly subpoena-readiness drill. 6-week engagement.
- General Counsel Report™ + Dispute Resolution Pack™ templates
- Contract-clause library mapped to UNCITRAL · CPR · FRE · NY Convention · LCIA · EU AI Act · GDPR · Brussels I (see crosswalk below)
- 7-year Evidence Pack™ retention, configurable
- Quarterly subpoena-readiness drill
- Pilot SKU:
KYE-SECTOR-LEGAL-001— add-on to any KYE™ annual tier
Solo / Boutique
For a single counsel or a boutique firm of five or fewer fee-earners. One matter type (dispute response OR contract-clause review), basic template library, synthetic pilot data, 4-week engagement.
- Dispute Resolution Pack™ OR General Counsel Report™ (pick one)
- Contract-clause library subset (UNCITRAL MLES + FRE 901)
- Single-user workspace, no multi-branch RBAC
- Signed end-of-pilot evidence pack
Pilot fees credit one hundred per cent against the first-year annual licence when signed within sixty days of pilot close-out.