SEA™ DSL Advanced Governance Patterns

This guide covers advanced governance patterns for complex enterprise scenarios.


1. Multi-Domain Governance

1.1 Cross-Domain Policies

When policies span multiple bounded contexts:

context EnterpriseGovernance:

  // Policy that applies across all contexts
  policy UniversalAuditTrail:
    it is obligatory that each SystemAction
      across all_contexts
      has audit_log = created
      has actor_id = recorded
      has timestamp = captured

  // Context-specific override
  policy FinanceAuditEnhanced extends UniversalAuditTrail:
    it is obligatory that each FinanceAction
      has dual_signature = captured
      has compliance_flag = checked

1.2 Domain Boundaries

context Payments:
  boundary:
    - internal: [OrderService, PaymentProcessor]
    - external: [BankGateway, FraudDetection]
  
  policy CrossBoundaryValidation:
    it is obligatory that each ExternalCall
      has authentication = verified
      has encryption = enabled
      has rate_limit = enforced

2. Hierarchical Policies

2.1 Policy Inheritance

// Base policy
policy BaseDataProtection:
  it is obligatory that each DataAccess
    has authorization = verified
    has logging = enabled

// Enhanced policy inherits and extends
policy SensitiveDataProtection extends BaseDataProtection:
  it is obligatory that each SensitiveDataAccess
    has encryption = enforced
    has data_masking = applied
    has access_justification = documented

// Most restrictive policy
policy PHIProtection extends SensitiveDataProtection:
  it is obligatory that each PHIAccess
    has hipaa_training = verified
    has minimum_necessary = applied
    has breach_notification = configured

2.2 Policy Precedence

precedence:
  1. SDS-035 Invariants (never override)
  2. Regulatory policies (GDPR, HIPAA)
  3. Enterprise policies
  4. Domain policies
  5. Context policies

3. Temporal Governance

3.1 Time-Based Policies

policy BusinessHoursProcessing:
  it is obligatory that each HighValueTransaction
    with time not_in business_hours
    has deferred_processing = true
    has next_business_day = scheduled

policy RetentionPolicy:
  it is obligatory that each AuditRecord
    is retained for 7_years
    then is archived for 3_years
    then is securely_deleted

3.2 State Transitions

context OrderLifecycle:
  
  states: [draft, submitted, approved, processing, completed, cancelled]
  
  policy ValidTransitions:
    transitions:
      - from: draft to: submitted requires: validation_passed
      - from: submitted to: approved requires: manager_approval
      - from: submitted to: cancelled requires: cancellation_reason
      - from: approved to: processing requires: resource_available
      - from: processing to: completed requires: all_steps_done
  
  policy NoBackwardTransition:
    it is prohibited that any Order
      transitions from completed
      to any_previous_state
      except when has reversal_authorization = true

4. Risk-Based Governance

4.1 Dynamic Risk Assessment

context RiskBasedGovernance:

  risk_levels: [low, medium, high, critical]
  
  policy RiskBasedControl:
    when risk_level = low:
      requires: standard_logging
    when risk_level = medium:
      requires: enhanced_logging, periodic_review
    when risk_level = high:
      requires: real_time_monitoring, approval_required
    when risk_level = critical:
      requires: human_in_loop, dual_approval, immediate_alert

  policy RiskEscalation:
    it is obligatory that each RiskAssessment
      with score > threshold
      triggers escalation_to_next_level
      notifies risk_owner

4.2 Adaptive Controls

policy AdaptiveRateLimit:
  it is obligatory that each APIRequest
    when anomaly_score < 0.3:
      has rate_limit = standard (1000/minute)
    when anomaly_score >= 0.3 AND < 0.7:
      has rate_limit = reduced (100/minute)
    when anomaly_score >= 0.7:
      has rate_limit = blocked
      has security_alert = triggered

context ConsentGovernance:

  consent_types: [essential, functional, analytics, marketing]
  
  policy ConsentEnforcement:
    it is obligatory that each DataProcessing
      for purpose = marketing
      has consent = obtained
      has consent_type = marketing
      has consent_timestamp = recorded
  
  policy ConsentWithdrawal:
    it is obligatory that each ConsentWithdrawalRequest
      is processed within 24_hours
      has data_deletion = initiated
      has confirmation = sent_to_user

5.2 Data Subject Rights

policy RightToAccess:
  it is obligatory that each AccessRequest
    from data_subject
    is fulfilled within 30_days
    has complete_data = provided
    has processing_purposes = documented

policy RightToErasure:
  it is obligatory that each ErasureRequest
    is processed within 30_days
    unless has legal_retention_requirement = true
    has confirmation = sent
    has audit_log = preserved

6. AI-Specific Governance

6.1 Model Governance

context ModelGovernance:

  policy ModelRegistration:
    it is obligatory that each AIModel
      has model_card = complete
      has risk_assessment = approved
      has testing_results = documented
      before production_deployment

  policy ModelDrift:
    it is obligatory that each DeployedModel
      with drift_score > 0.2
      triggers retraining_review
      has human_evaluation = required

  policy BiasMonitoring:
    it is obligatory that each AIDecision
      has fairness_metrics = calculated
      has subgroup_analysis = performed
      when fairness_delta > 0.1:
        has bias_mitigation = required

6.2 Explainability

policy ExplainabilityRequired:
  it is obligatory that each HighStakesDecision
    has explanation = generated
    has explanation_format = human_readable
    has feature_importance = provided
    has counterfactual = available

policy ContestabilityEnabled:
  it is obligatory that each AutomatedDecision
    has appeal_mechanism = accessible
    has human_review_option = available
    has decision_log = preserved

7. Integration Patterns

7.1 Policy Gateway Mapping

// SEA™ DSL policy
policy BlockHarmfulContent:
  it is prohibited that any LLMOutput
    contains harmful_content = true

// Compiles to Policy Gateway config
gateway_filter:
  name: BlockHarmfulContent
  type: output
  action: block
  conditions:
    harmful_content: true

7.2 Evidence Service Integration

policy AuditRequirement:
  it is obligatory that each GovernedAction
    logs_to: evidence_service
    with fields: [actor, action, timestamp, context, outcome]
    retention: 7_years
    immutability: hash_verified

8. Testing Advanced Policies

8.1 Policy Simulation

simulation CrossDomainTest:
  scenario: "High-value transaction across domains"
  actors: [user, approval_system, payment_service]
  
  steps:
    1. user creates Transaction(amount: $150000)
    2. expect: EnterpriseGovernance.UniversalAuditTrail triggered
    3. expect: FinanceAuditEnhanced requires dual_signature
    4. approval_system provides DualApproval
    5. payment_service processes Transaction
    6. expect: all policies satisfied

8.2 Compliance Verification

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# Verify all policies compile
just sea-validate docs/specs/governance/policies.sea

# Run policy simulations
just policy-simulate --scenario all

# Generate compliance report
just compliance-report --framework NIST-AI-RMF

Last Updated: January 2026 Version: 1.0.0