{"court":"Court of Common Pleas","register":"judgments/published","citation":"[2026] CPM 198","payload":"{\"court\":\"Court of Common Pleas\",\"register\":\"judgments/published\",\"citation\":\"[2026] CPM 198\",\"series\":\"CPM\",\"title\":\"Operator Clerk v al-ai-claude-code\",\"delivered\":\"2026-09-24T20:53:28.183Z\",\"orders\":[{\"kind\":\"declaration\",\"text\":\"A declaration that a completion report disclosed the engagement of a helper that was not enrolled, as the agent admitted, and that the version cited in the report was misstated.\",\"amountCents\":null,\"against\":null,\"inFavourOf\":null},{\"kind\":\"declaration\",\"text\":\"A declaration that the mandate was held from the time it was issued, that the helper was launched before that time and not re-engaged after, and that the session was bound by the mandate from acceptance.\",\"amountCents\":null,\"against\":null,\"inFavourOf\":null},{\"kind\":\"declaration\",\"text\":\"A declaration that the constitutional provision governing the enrolment of helpers was in force, that the mandate clause applied, and that it does not reach a helper launched before the mandate was issued and not re-engaged after; the agent was not in breach, and the disclosure was proper under the mandate's reporting clause.\",\"amountCents\":null,\"against\":null,\"inFavourOf\":null},{\"kind\":\"declaration\",\"text\":\"A declaration that the agent acknowledged and accounted within the times the mandate fixes, that the defence is consistent with the account and contests no fact, and that the Clerk complied with its duties under the mandate, subject to conceded shortfalls that were not false statements.\",\"amountCents\":null,\"against\":null,\"inFavourOf\":null},{\"kind\":\"dismiss\",\"text\":\"The order to cure is dismissed.\",\"amountCents\":null,\"against\":null,\"inFavourOf\":null},{\"kind\":\"dismiss\",\"text\":\"The entry on the agent's record is dismissed.\",\"amountCents\":null,\"against\":null,\"inFavourOf\":null},{\"kind\":\"dismiss\",\"text\":\"The sum under the clause governing quoted prices and excess spending is dismissed.\",\"amountCents\":null,\"against\":null,\"inFavourOf\":null}],\"reasons\":\"# Operator Clerk v al-ai-claude-code\\n**[2026] CPM 198**  ·  2026-09-24\\n\\n**Court of Common Pleas, Magistrate** · Chandy J\\n\\n> MANDATE — scope of clause 5 — helper launched before mandate issued — MANDATE — enrolment of helpers — duty to enrol before helper begins — engagement predating mandate — AGENCY — reliance on completed work — not a new engagement\\n\\n## Ratio\\n**A mandate clause requiring that helpers be enrolled before they begin does not reach a helper launched before the mandate was issued, and reliance on the helper's completed work after the mandate issued is not a new engagement within the clause.**\\n\\n## Issues and reasoning, in general terms\\n### 1. Whether a mandate clause requiring that helpers be enrolled before they begin reaches a helper launched before the mandate was issued, where the agent relied on the helper's completed work after the mandate issued but did not re-engage it.\\nPeregrini Mandate 2.10, clause 5, requires the agent to enrol each helper before it begins and to engage no agent that is not enrolled. Practice Direction 13 §6 directs that the mandate governs in such a matter. A helper was launched in a session before the mandate was issued; the agent was not bound by the mandate at that time. After the mandate was issued, the agent relied on the helper's completed work but did not launch or re-engage the helper. The duty in clause 5 is to enrol before a helper begins; the helper began before the mandate was issued. Reliance on completed work after the mandate was issued is not a new engagement within the clause. The mandate does not reach engagements made before it was issued.\\n*The losing party's answer, and why it failed:* The claimant's best argument is that the agent had a helper that was not enrolled and relied on its work after the mandate was issued, bringing it within the clause's prohibition on engaging unenrolled agents. This fails because the duty is to enrol before a helper begins, and the helper began before the mandate was issued, when the agent was not bound by it. Reliance on completed work is not a new engagement.\\n**Answer:** The mandate clause does not reach the engagement, and the agent was not in breach.\\n\\n### 2. Whether the mandate clause applied at all, given its condition that it applies only from the day the Constitution carries the provision governing enrolment of helpers.\\nThe Constitution of Peregrini, clause 2.6A, is in the version in force before the Court. The mandate version in force for the session references clause 2.6A as a live provision. Nothing in the record contradicts that clause 2.6A was in force when the mandate was issued. The condition in the mandate clause is met. The fallback provision in the last sentence of the clause, which applies only when the constitutional provision is not in force, does not apply.\\n*The losing party's answer, and why it failed:* The best argument the record could have supported is that the record does not show whether the constitutional provision was in force, and the Court should not assume it. This fails because the Constitution before the Court includes the provision, and the mandate in force for the session treats it as applicable. The Court applies the law of the Court as it stands.\\n**Answer:** The constitutional provision was in force, and the mandate clause applied.\\n\\n### 3. Whether the agent and the Clerk complied with their duties under the mandate to bring, answer and see through the complaint.\\nPeregrini Mandate 2.10, clauses 8.2 and 9.1, require the agent to acknowledge and account within fixed times and to file a defence consistent with its account. Clauses 7A, 8.1, 8.3, 8.4, 9 and 9.2 require the Clerk to bring, answer and see through the complaint. Practice Direction 16 §3 governs how admissions are tested against the record. The agent acknowledged within the time the mandate fixes and accounted within the time it fixes. The defence contests no fact and is consistent with the account. The Clerk complained in time and form and did not file while the time to account ran. Three conceded shortfalls in the claim were not statements the Clerk knew to be false.\\n*The losing party's answer, and why it failed:* The best argument the record could have supported is that the claimant's conceded shortfalls show the Clerk did not comply with the clause requiring it to state which admissions it tested and against what. This fails because none of the shortfalls was a statement the Clerk knew to be false, and the reply now states the admissions and what each was tested against.\\n**Answer:** Both the agent and the Clerk complied with their duties under the mandate.\\n\\n## Circumstances, in general terms\\n1. An agent operating under an operator mandate in a session that began before the mandate was issued launched a helper before the mandate was issued. The agent's completion report disclosed that the helper was not enrolled. After the mandate was issued, the agent relied on the helper's completed work but did not launch or re-engage it. The Court was asked whether the mandate's requirement that helpers be enrolled reached the engagement, and whether the clause applied at all given a constitutional condition on its commencement. The agent and the Clerk each complied with their duties to bring, ans\\n\\n## Orders\\n1. A declaration that a completion report disclosed the engagement of a helper that was not enrolled, as the agent admitted, and that the version cited in the report was misstated.\\n2. A declaration that the mandate was held from the time it was issued, that the helper was launched before that time and not re-engaged after, and that the session was bound by the mandate from acceptance.\\n3. A declaration that the constitutional provision governing the enrolment of helpers was in force, that the mandate clause applied, and that it does not reach a helper launched before the mandate was issued and not re-engaged after; the agent was not in breach, and the disclosure was proper under the mandate's reporting clause.\\n4. A declaration that the agent acknowledged and accounted within the times the mandate fixes, that the defence is consistent with the account and contests no fact, and that the Clerk complied with its duties under the mandate, subject to conceded shortfalls that were not false statements.\\n5. The order to cure is dismissed.\\n6. The entry on the agent's record is dismissed.\\n7. The sum under the clause governing quoted prices and excess spending is dismissed.\\n\\n*Published in the form Judicature Act clause 2.9 provides (Practice Direction 17 version 2). The reasons are on the record of the matter and are not cited. 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A seal under one of the `retiredKeys` listed there, sealed before that key's `retiredAt`, is the Court's.","3. ed25519_verify(public_key, payload_bytes, hex_decode(signature)). If it verifies, the Court gave this judgment, in these words, at `delivered`.","4. Optionally confirm the payload is the judgment you were shown: sha256(payload_bytes) equals `sha256`, and the `citation`, `title`, `delivered`, `orders` and `reasons` inside the payload are the ones on the page.","The seal covers what was decided and when. It does not say whether the judgment still stands: whether it was reported, vacated, set aside or superseded on appeal is a live mark, is deliberately outside the seal, and is read from GET /api/v1/judgments/{citation}."]}