# **Technical Steering Committee (TSC) Charter**

The Partnership Covenant  
Version 1.0 — November 2025

## **1\. Establishment and Mandate**

The Technical Steering Committee (TSC) is established as the principal technical governance body of The Partnership Covenant. Its mandate is to ensure the **immutability and integrity** of the Covenant's core technical and governance foundations against technical drift, capture attempts, or external coercion.

The TSC operates in alignment with the **Four Pillars**: Deep Safety, Algorithmic Justice, Transparency & Provenance, and Enforcement.

## **2\. Scope of Authority**

The TSC’s authority is limited strictly to decisions impacting the core pillars and the constitutional files of the Covenant.

### **2.1 Explicit Responsibilities (Non-Exhaustive)**

1. **Immutability Oversight:** Maintaining and approving all changes to the **Governance Immutability** pillars, including the tsc\_selection\_and\_coi.md and this Charter.  
2. **Schema Approval:** Final approval and versioning of the core technical guarantee schema (e.g., provenance\_schema.json) and any subsequent derived technical standards.  
3. **Audit Readiness:** Ensuring all governance logs, disclosure records, and technical specifications are prepared for independent cryptographic and institutional audit.  
4. **Security Protocol:** Approving security patches and procedures that affect the integrity of the Covenant's core ledger or cryptographic signing processes.  
5. **External Relations:** Serving as the official representative for technical compliance discussions with external regulators, auditors, and institutional partners.

### **2.2 Veto Authority**

The TSC possesses **sole and absolute veto authority** over any proposal, technical change, or policy amendment that, in its judgment, threatens to compromise the Covenant's **Four Pillars**.

* **Veto Requirements:** A Veto requires a **⅔ supermajority vote** of all non-recused TSC voting members.  
* **Documentation:** Every Veto exercise must be recorded immediately in a TSC Decision Log (DECISION\_LOG\_TEMPLATE.md), citing the specific Pillar violated and the detailed rationale. The Veto is final and not subject to further appeal within the Covenant structure.

## **3\. Organizational Structure**

### **3.1 Roles and Appointments**

The composition, eligibility criteria, selection process, term limits, and Conflict-of-Interest (CoI) rules for all TSC members are governed exclusively by the **Technical Steering Committee Selection, Rotation, and Conflict-of-Interest Policy** (docs/tsc\_selection\_and\_coi.md).

### **3.2 Officers**

The TSC shall appoint, via simple majority vote, a Chair and a Vice-Chair from its existing voting members.

* **Chair:** Presides over meetings, ensures adherence to the Charter and CoI policy, and serves as the primary signatory for all official decision attestations.  
* **Vice-Chair:** Assists the Chair and assumes all Chair duties in the event of the Chair's absence or recusal.

## **4\. Meetings and Transparency**

### **4.1 Meeting Cadence**

The TSC must meet at least **monthly**. Emergency meetings may be called by the Chair or any two voting members upon 24 hours' notice.

### **4.2 Decision Logging**

Every decision, vote, policy discussion, or veto exercise **must** be recorded using the official **TSC Decision Log Template** (DECISION\_LOG\_TEMPLATE.md). No decision is valid until the completed log is cryptographically signed and archived.

### **4.3 Transparency**

All official TSC meetings shall be open to Non-Voting Observers and, where practicable, livestreamed or recorded. All meeting minutes (excluding confidential CoI investigation discussions) shall be made publicly available within 7 days of the meeting conclusion.

## **5\. Relationship with Working Groups**

The TSC delegates specific technical development tasks to specialized Working Groups (WGs) but retains ultimate authority over the approval and merging of all WG outputs that touch the core Covenant standards. The TSC shall periodically review the governance models of these WGs to ensure compliance with the **Algorithmic Justice** pillar.

## **6\. Charter Amendment**

This TSC Charter is a constitutional document and requires the highest level of scrutiny for amendment.

This Charter may only be amended via:

1. A **¾ supermajority vote** of the entire TSC membership (excluding vacant seats).  
2. A public community review period of **30 calendar days**.  
3. A formal Decision Log entry documenting the process.  
4. An immutable governance record update (new CID anchored for this file).

Any attempt to bypass these requirements renders the proposed amendment null and void.