# IF.GOV.WITNESS (legacy: IF.WITNESS)

## Role

A witness is the “auditor in the room”: it checks that governance rules were followed and that required artifacts exist.

## Responsibilities

- validate that TRIAGE and PANEL produced required artifacts
- validate that the final output includes trace id and citation formatting rules
- raise “no-trace-no-trust” errors when invariants are violated

## Non-responsibilities

- does not override governance decisions on substance
- does not act as a judge; it acts as a verifier

## Required evidence

- witness checks are logged as trace events
- witness failures are exported as part of `IF.AUDIT.PROOF` bundles when disputes occur
