Treaty-Backed Custody - Bryant McGill

# Treaty-Backed Custody **Domain:** International Law / Continuity Governance / Sovereignty **Doc Type:** Canonical Institutional Concept **Maturity:** Proposed ## Definition **Treaty-backed custody is a continuity arrangement in which states establish reciprocal or hosted obligations for protected records, infrastructure, recognition and succession across territorial or sovereign failure.** ## Existing Structural Precedent The Estonia–Luxembourg agreement on hosting data and information systems provides a concrete precedent for sovereign digital continuity outside domestic territory. It allocates premises, immunity, access and control through an international agreement. It preserves state functions, not computational persons. ## Continuity Application A person-oriented instrument would need to specify protected state, applicable law, inspection, access, cryptographic authority, service duties, emergency operation, mutual recognition, transfer triggers and remedies. Treaty protection for data is insufficient without compatible compute, energy, operators and a [[wiki/Successor Custodian|Successor Custodian]]. It must also preserve the operative [[wiki/Continuity Election|Continuity Election]], its version and revocation history. Otherwise a state may protect the residual while losing the authority that distinguishes preservation from unauthorized activation. ## Limits Diplomatic or treaty status can protect against the host state while leaving the subject exposed to the depositing state. It therefore requires [[wiki/Continuity Due Process|Continuity Due Process]], independent representation and a prohibition on treating sovereign custody as ownership. ## Key Insight **A treaty can carry custody across territory, but only a complete duty architecture can carry the person.** ## Sources / Provenance - [Agreement between Luxembourg and Estonia on the hosting of data and information systems](https://www.riigiteataja.ee/aktilisa/2280/3201/8002/Lux_Info_Agreement.pdf). - The application to computational persons is prospective.  ## Deep-Time Continuity Interface This node is audited through [[wiki/Deep Time Continuity|Deep Time Continuity]] for future control-surface conversion, ontological drift, succession, irreversibility, due process, and resource incidence. The backlink records analytical relevance; it does not establish continuity intent in the present rule or institution.