What a sealed resolution proves, and what it does not

A sealed resolution carries a cryptographic signature. This page is
about what that signature actually establishes, because it is less than
people assume and the difference matters.

What it proves

That these exact words were sealed, after this motion carried, under the
quorum rule that was frozen before voting opened.

What it does not prove

• That the decision was correct.
• That it was lawful.
• That it is enforceable.
• That the people who voted were competent to decide it.
• That nobody in the room had an undeclared conflict.
• That the money exists.

A signature proves a key signed some bytes. Every other question is a
separate fact, checked separately, and a signature that was treated as
proof of all of them would be worse than no signature at all.

A resolution is not a payment

A board resolution authorising five million shillings does not move five
million shillings.

The budget module decides whether the money is there and whether the
grant allows it. The payment module decides whether the instruction is
valid. Each of them checks its own rules against the sealed scope, and
any of them can refuse.

Rescinding does not undo

A rescission is a later decision pointing at an earlier one. Everything
done while the original stood was validly done, and the record keeps
saying so.

Nothing here is ever deleted.