QUORUM  /  Compliance Annex
For lawyers, auditors, and donor due diligence

Evidence, graded.

The technical and compliance backbone of Quorum: KPI framework, evidence-graded claims register, compliance matrix, the cSPA JSON schema, and a verified sources list. Every claim has a grade and a citation.

KPI Framework Claims Register Compliance Matrix cSPA Schema Sources
01 / KPI Framework

What we measure.

Quarterly transparency reports cover all four KPI tracks. Targets and definitions ratified by the Board, the Mandate & Ethics Committee, and the independent ombudsperson before each financial year.

/01 · Legitimacy

Authority is documented, not asserted.

  • Active mandates (net) — issued minus revoked, by jurisdiction
  • Mandate renewal rate at 24-month auto-expiry
  • Revocation handling SLA — sub-second propagation target
  • % external statements backed by verified active mandates
/02 · Compliance

No corners cut. Filings on time.

  • On-time regulatory filings — UK FIRS / EU Transparency / Lobbyregister
  • Zero material compliance breaches — board-attested
  • DPIA completion rate for high-risk processing workflows
  • Sanctions-screen false-positive resolution within 24h
/03 · Operations

Speed where it matters.

  • Time to issue mandate (KYC → QES signed) — target ≤ 12 minutes
  • Time to revoke mandate — target ≤ 1 second propagation
  • Case throughput by scope type — quarterly
  • Institutional response rate to Quorum submissions
/04 · Trust

Members can verify, never have to trust.

  • Member confidence survey score — annual, third-party-administered
  • Evidence audit pass rate — independent auditor sample of mandates
  • Public transparency report completeness — checklist-based
  • Whistleblower / ombudsperson disclosure rate
02 / Evidence-graded claims register

Every claim has a grade.

Three tiers — Strongly evidenced, Moderately evidenced, Weakly evidenced — applied to every non-trivial assertion in Quorum's published material. Donors and journalists can audit the basis of any claim by following the source map.

Claim Grade Support
Non-party civic federation is more feasible than diaspora party model for this use case. STRONG Convergent finding across 5 AI analyses. UK PPERA s.54 / DE PartG §25 / FR Loi 88-227 / US 52 USC §30121 all bar foreign-source party finance. Official guidance is unambiguous.
Mandate legitimacy must be individual and explicit, not social-media-derived. STRONG Convergent finding in all 5 AI analyses. Standard legal-representation logic across UK / EU / DE / FR. ECOSOC §13 "major part from members" criterion confirms.
UK CLG-first is preferable to charity-first for broad advocacy operations. MED Charity political-purpose constraints (CC4 / CC9) explicit. CLG provides broader structural flexibility. Some advocacy can occur within charity remit but is rate-limited.
QES-tiered signing should be reserved for high-stakes external actions. MED eIDAS Art. 25(2) supports elevated evidentiary posture. Practical tiering reduces cost/complexity. Trade-off between evidentiary weight and onboarding friction is empirically open.
A parliamentary committee will accept cSPA evidence as documented authority. WEAK No prior precedent. The first acceptance sets the standard. Pilot targets — EP PETI, OSCE/ODIHR human-rights track — selected for highest probability of first acceptance.
Belarusian Coordination Council single-election design failed at scale. STRONG May 2024 election — 6,723 voters, ~3% diaspora turnout. OSW Centre for Eastern Studies analysis confirms structural cause: fear of Belarusian KGB retaliation, not technological failure.
Hong Kong Watch model is the best institutional template available. MED UK Charity #1180013, paired with Hongkongers in Britain (CLG). Concrete wins: BNO visa scheme (230k+ granted), "home fee" status in Scotland. Comparable diaspora context.
Recognition without domestic power decays in 2-3 years. STRONG Guaidó interim Venezuelan government dissolved 30 Dec 2022 (72-29 vote) after ~4 years; 60+ states had recognised. Pattern repeats across exile-government cases.
03 / Compliance matrix

Where the law applies, and how we comply.

Domain Baseline requirement Quorum control
UK FIRS (NSA 2023) Russia is on the Enhanced Tier. 10-day registration window for any arrangement with a "foreign power". Penalties up to 5 years imprisonment. Documented firewall: no funds, instructions, or operational direction from any foreign power. UK counsel checkpoint per workstream. Pre-register where in any doubt.
EU Transparency Register Mandatory entry for any organisation seeking to influence EU institutions (Commission, Parliament, Council). No fee. Code of Conduct compliance required. Day-1 registration. Quarterly update of activities, budget, and counterparts. Public lobbying calendar tied to register entries.
German Lobbyregister Threshold: ≥30 contacts in 3 months. Fines up to €50,000 for non-compliance. 2024 amendment broadened scope significantly. Pre-register on day-1 of German chapter activity. Activity log maintained per Bundestag Verwaltung guidelines. Half-yearly reconciliation.
UK GDPR / EU GDPR Political opinion = special-category data under Article 9. Mandatory DPIA for high-risk processing. Principal data subject rights apply. Lawful basis stack: 9(2)(a) explicit consent + 9(2)(d) not-for-profit political-aim + 9(2)(e) manifestly public. DPIA + DPO appointed. Controller-processor agreements with all vendors.
Sanctions (UK / EU / US) UK OFSI consolidated list, EU Council Regulation 269/2014, US OFAC SDN. Strict-liability regime. NGO General License framework (UNSCR 2664) provides limited safe harbour. Hard-block at onboarding via ComplyAdvantage. ≥99% match thresholds. Board-level sanctions policy. UNSCR 2664 General License cited per transaction class.
eIDAS Reg. 910/2014 QES = same legal effect as wet signature in all 27 EU member states (Art. 25(2)). UK eIDAS Regulations 2019 + ECA 2000 s.7 retain the principle post-Brexit. QES via Namirial / InfoCert / Evrotrust for high-stakes mandates. PAdES-LTV PDF container for ≥10y validity. Optional EBSI anchoring + Bitstring Status List 2023 revocation.
Charity Commission CC4 / CC9 UK charities cannot have political activity as their main purpose. Campaigning permitted within Charity Commission CC9 limits. CLG has no equivalent restriction. CLG-first architecture. Optional CIO sister-entity for education / research / non-political legal aid. Strict cross-entity firewalls.
04 / cSPA JSON schema

The mandate, fully specified.

The Civic Special Power of Attorney is a structured object — every field is enumerated, every exclusion is explicit, every signature is verifiable. Below is the canonical schema; complete TypeScript / OpenAPI / JSON Schema definitions are in the technical repository.

cSPA.schema.json
// canonical Civic Special Power of Attorney mandate object
{
  "mandate_id": "uuid v4",
  "principal_id": "DID:web:quorum/principals/{hash}", // pseudonymised
  "representative_id": "quorum_uk_clg | quorum_de_ev",
  "jurisdictions": ["UK", "DE", "EU", "OTHER"],
  "scope": [
    "ADVOCACY_LETTERS",
    "ADMIN_COMPLAINTS",
    "PETITIONS",
    "PUBLIC_SUBMISSIONS",
    "ECTHR_AMICUS",
    "AGGREGATE_COUNT_INCLUSION"
  ],
  "excluded_powers": [
    "ELECTORAL_PROXY",        // no public-election proxy
    "FINANCIAL_AUTHORITY",    // no funds movement
    "CONTRACTING_AUTHORITY", // no binding contracts
    "SUB_DELEGATION"        // no onward delegation
  ],
  "signature": {
    "level": "QES",  // SES | AES | QES
    "standard": "eIDAS Art. 25(2)",
    "qtsp": "namirial | infocert | evrotrust",
    "container": "PAdES-LTV", // ETSI EN 319 142
    "signed_at": "2026-05-15T10:00:00Z"
  },
  "sanctions_screen": {
    "provider": "ComplyAdvantage",
    "checked_lists": ["UK_OFSI", "EU_269_2014", "OFAC_SDN"],
    "status": "clear",
    "checked_at": "2026-05-15T09:58:21Z"
  },
  "validity": {
    "effective_at": "2026-05-15T10:00:00Z",
    "expires_at": "2028-05-15T10:00:00Z", // 24-month auto-expiry
    "renewable": true
  },
  "revocation": {
    "method": "portal_self_revoke | signed_notice | helpdesk_verified",
    "propagation_target_ms": 200,
    "revocation_endpoint": "https://verify.quorum/.well-known/revocation/{hash}"
  },
  "governing_law": "England & Wales | Germany | France",
  "audit_trail": { "hash_chain": "sha3-256", "anchor": "EBSI" },
  "status": "active | revoked | expired | superseded"
}

// presentation to verifier = zero-knowledge proof of count, jurisdiction, freshness — never identity
05 / Sources

Every claim, traceable.

Live links to the official, statutory, and academic sources behind every assertion in Quorum's published material. Last verified 8 May 2026.

GOV.UK — limited company types: gov.uk

GOV.UK — CIC guidance (political-purpose limits, SI 2005/1788)

GOV.UK — Charity Commission CC4 / CC9 (political activity by charities)

GOV.UK — FIRS collection (in force 1 July 2025)

GOV.UK — FIRS registration guidance (updated 24 Feb 2026)

legislation.gov.uk — National Security Act 2023, Part 4 §69

legislation.gov.uk — Lobbying Act 2014 (consultant lobbying)

Electoral Commission — permissible-source rules (PPERA s.54)

European Commission — Transparency Register conditionality

EU Transparency Register portal: transparency-register.europa.eu

EUR-Lex — eIDAS Reg. 910/2014, consolidated text (Article 25 legal effect)

EUR-Lex — Reg. (EU) 2024/1183 (EUDI Wallet amendment)

GOV.UK — Data Use and Access Act 2025 collection (Royal Assent 19 Jun 2025)

gesetze-im-internet.de — BGB §21 (registered association)

gesetze-im-internet.de — VereinsG §14 (Auslaendervereine)

gesetze-im-internet.de — LobbyRG (German Lobbying Register Act)

BFH (German Federal Fiscal Court) — V R 60/17 (2019), V R 14/20 (2020), Attac line

BMF-Schreiben — 12 Jan 2022 (gemeinnützig + political activity)

EUR-Lex — Council Regulation (EU) 269/2014 (Russia sanctions designations)

UK OFSI consolidated list of financial sanctions targets

OFAC — Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list

OFAC — UNSCR 2664 NGO General License framework (Dec 2022)

ICO — DPIA guidance (high-risk processing under UK GDPR)

EDPB — Statement 02/2022 on transfers to Russia

ECtHR — Rules of Court, Rule 44 §3 (third-party intervention), 3 Mar 2023 amendment

ECOSOC — Resolution 1996/31 (consultative status criteria)

Council of Europe — Resolution CM/Res(2016)3 (INGO participatory status)

PACE — Resolution 2621/2025 (Platform for Russian Democratic Forces, 1 Oct 2025)

ETSI EN 319 142 — PAdES (PDF Advanced Electronic Signatures)

W3C — Verifiable Credentials Data Model 2.0 (2025)

OpenID — VC Issuance / VC Presentation specs (OID4VCI / OID4VP)

EBSI — European Blockchain Services Infrastructure

Hong Kong Watch — UK Registered Charity #1180013

Hong Kong Democracy Council — US 501(c)(3), EIN 84-2856766

Tibetan Charter (1991) — Central Tibetan Administration constitution

Tsikhanouskaya Office — Coordination Council and United Transitional Cabinet

Meduza — Yashin announcement of Better Call Yashin (16 Apr 2025)

Meduza — Volkov interview on diaspora opposition strategy

OSW Centre for Eastern Studies — Belarus opposition parliament (2024)

The Bell — Russian emigration estimate (650K+ post-Feb-2022)

Stanford CDDRL — On the Move: Russian emigration 2022-2024 study

Ifri — The New Russian Diaspora: Europe's Challenge and Opportunity

Freedom House — Defending Democracy in Exile (2022 report)

IfRI — transnational repression and diaspora communities

Amnesty International — FBK terrorist designation analysis (Nov 2025)

Full master plan, presentation, and supplementary documents available from the project repository on request.