A manual ruling is permanently logged to an append-only audit trail with the reviewer and a timestamp, locking the verdict to that human decision; submitting a withdrawal releases the lock and returns verdict ownership to the automated checkers.

Withheld — proprietary.

sequenceDiagram
  autonumber
  actor User as Reviewer
  participant API as Ruling API
  participant DB as Database
  participant Checker as Automated Checker

  alt Record Ruling
    User->>API: Submit ruling (correct/incorrect)
    API->>DB: Log ruling (append-only)
    API->>DB: Lock verdict to human
    Checker->>DB: Scan claims
    Note over DB,Checker: Sources attach, verdict is locked
  else Withdraw Ruling
    User->>API: Submit ruling (withdrawn)
    API->>DB: Log withdrawal (append-only)
    API->>DB: Release human lock
    Checker->>DB: Re-evaluate and update verdict
  end