The Cardinal Decision Evidence Assessment, Version 1.0

Abstract

Regulated firms increasingly cannot rebuild the AI-assisted decisions they have already made. This document sets out an applied test for whether they can. Six tests, evaluated in dependency order, examine whether the inputs, system state and human judgement behind a specific past decision were captured, whether that record survives unaltered, whether it persists as long as the firm's liability, and whether an outsider could use it. Results resolve through a strict ordered procedure to one of four tiers:- Defensible, Partially Defensible, Attested Only, Opaque, reported alongside the Jegede Retention Ratio (R), the shortest-lived component of the decision record over the liability horizon. The document also identifies the Cardinal Retention Asymmetry: under Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, technical documentation must be retained for ten years (Art. 18), decision logs for at least six months (Arts. 19, 26), and the right to explanation of an individual decision carries no stated limit (Art. 86). A firm may comply with every retention floor and still be unable to answer the question when it is asked.