Policy Criticality (Low/Medium/High)

Not every policy carries the same weight. A tone-of-voice guideline is not a payment authorisation rule. The criticality framework names the distinction and binds it to enforcement.

High criticality. Policies whose violation creates regulatory, financial, or safety exposure. Enforced deterministically (see Deterministic Enforcement). The model does not "usually" comply. The runtime enforces.

Medium criticality. Policies whose violation degrades quality or user experience without creating exposure. Enforced through evaluation and continuous policy mechanisms (see Continuous Policy), with deviations surfaced for review.

Low criticality. Policies that express preference or convention. Enforced probabilistically through the prompt and evaluation surface, accepted as guidance rather than gate.

Assigning criticality is an authoring act. The domain expert names the level. The AI Operations Lead ratifies it through governance.