Cross-Jurisdictional Credential Recognition

Enabling Federated Trust Across Sovereign, Institutional, and Treaty Boundaries in NSF

5.10.1 The Need for Cross-Jurisdictional Recognition

In the NSF protocol, Verifiable Credentials (VCs) are used by:

• Agents operating across borders

• Multilateral treaty participants

• Simulation actors modeling transboundary risks

• Emergency responders mobilized via international coalitions

To ensure these actors are interoperable and verifiable across trust domains, NSF implements Cross-Jurisdictional Credential Recognition—a framework for:

• Federated trust resolution

• Credential equivalency

• DAO-to-DAO validation

• Treaty-aligned compliance enforcement

• Execution-layer compatibility

This mechanism provides seamless policy portability, without compromising governance integrity.

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5.10.2 Federated Trust Models in NSF

NSF supports three trust relationship types:

Model	Description	Example
Bilateral Equivalence	Two jurisdictions/DAOs declare mutual recognition of specific VC types	“Canada and Mexico accept each other's EmergencyHealthVC”
Multilateral Accreditation	Credentials accepted if issued under shared treaty, DAO, or standard	“Any UN-affiliated DAO can issue DisasterReliefOperatorVC”
Trust Delegation	One DAO recognizes another as a credential issuer for a defined role	“WFP delegates access credentialing to JordanDAO for logistics”

These relationships are cryptographically anchored, logged, and dispute-resilient.

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5.10.3 Recognition Metadata in VC Format

Each credential includes optional recognition metadata:

"recognition": {
  "recognized_by": ["ETH", "KEN", "UNFCCC-DAO"],
  "based_on": "Treaty::[email protected]",
  "trust_model": "multilateral"
}

This allows:

• Clause runtimes to evaluate credential scope

• Credential oracles to validate jurisdictional compatibility

• Simulations to accept foreign data or authorities when properly credentialed

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5.10.4 Jurisdiction Tags and Execution Scoping

Each VC carries a jurisdiction tag:

"jurisdiction": "FRA"

Execution environments validate:

• Clause jurisdiction vs credential jurisdiction

• Presence of a valid recognition agreement

• Whether the issuing DAO is in the Recognition Registry

Cross-scope execution is denied unless all checks pass.

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5.10.5 DAO-to-DAO Recognition Agreements

DAOs can formally declare:

• Which VCs they recognize from which peers

• The conditions under which that recognition is valid

• The expiration and revocation protocols for foreign credentials

Example recognition record:

{
  "recognizing_dao": "UNHCR-DAO",
  "recognized_issuer": "JORDAN-GovDAO",
  "credential_type": "FieldAccessVC",
  "valid_until": "2026-01-01",
  "revocation_policy": "shared_crl",
  "audit_link": "ar://auditrecord0x99abc..."
}

These records are anchored in the Interoperability Registry and queried by clause runtimes, DAOs, and oracles.

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5.10.6 Treaty-Based Credential Portability

Treaties in NSF (see Chapters 3 & 9) define:

• Common credential schemas

• Shared revocation and audit rules

• Unified DAO governance overlays

• Mutual recognition of simulation, legal, and operational credentials

This allows agents to:

• Act under shared clause logic

• Use credentials across sovereign or organizational boundaries

• Present treaty-signed VCs that are valid wherever the treaty applies

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5.10.7 Resolving Credential Conflicts Across Jurisdictions

If a credential:

• Is valid in one domain but not another

• Is revoked in a foreign DAO

• Conflicts with local execution policy

…then the clause runtime triggers a dispute condition, invoking:

• Credential Oracles

• DAO-to-DAO arbitration

• Treaty-level override clause (if applicable)

Resolution paths are clause-defined and may include:

• Execution freeze

• Alternate credential request

• DAO quorum vote

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5.10.8 Cross-Jurisdiction Rollups and Attestation Chains

When CACs (Clause-Attested Computes) include cross-domain credentials:

• The rollup includes recognition proofs

• ZK verifiers check that all foreign VCs:

  • Are recognized by host DAO

  • Have valid revocation status

  • Were signed by a valid issuer key

Rollups become jurisdictional proof graphs, validating agent action under shared governance.

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5.10.9 Governance Dashboards for Credential Recognition

NSF exposes real-time dashboards that show:

• Which credentials are recognized where

• Trust topology graphs

• Credential usage volume by jurisdiction

• DAO vote logs on recognition status

• Revocation propagation across borders

This enables transparent multilateral governance and public trust.

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5.10.10 Interoperability Without Centralization

Cross-jurisdictional recognition in NSF ensures:

• Every credential travels with context and proof

• Every domain retains sovereign control over execution

• No central registry governs trust—only decentralized agreements and cryptographically signed policies

NSF creates the conditions for digital multilateralism—secure, auditable, and verifiable across the world's most sensitive domains.