What you sign
Your signature is a judgement, not a rubber stamp.
This page exists because you are the one putting a membership number on the work, and you are entitled to know precisely what that means here before you take a first case.
- Attestations you make when signing
- 2Attestations you make when signing
- Digest your signature binds to
- SHA-256Digest your signature binds to
- How much of the draft you can rewrite
- All of itHow much of the draft you can rewrite
- Institutes routed by discipline
- 14Institutes routed by discipline
The sequence
What happens in your queue.
- 01
A case is offered
Routed to your discipline. You see the site, the route and the scope before accepting, and you can decline without giving a reason.
- 02
You read the pack
The full draft, the constraints already resolved, and the source passages the draft relies on.
- 03
You revise it
Any of it, freely. What you changed and how long you spent are recorded against the case.
- 04
You sign, or you do not
Two attestations, then your name and membership number go on the document. Or you send it back.
The two attestations
What you are actually confirming.
Written out in full at the point of signing rather than implied by clicking a button, and recorded verbatim with the signature.
- One
- You have read it and it is adequate
- That you have personally reviewed the document in full, and that in your professional judgement it is fit to be submitted in support of this application.
- Two
- It is within your competence
- That the document falls within the discipline your chartered membership covers, and that you are entitled to sign it under your institute's rules.
Your signature is a professional standing behind the work. It is not authority to file an application in somebody else’s name, and the system will not treat it as one.
The record
What is captured at the moment you sign.
Bound to the exact file. If a document is edited after signature, the digest no longer matches and the signature no longer applies, so nothing you signed can be quietly altered underneath you.
| Recorded | Why |
|---|---|
| Your name and membership number | It goes on the document itself |
| The document version and its SHA-256 | So a later edit cannot inherit this signature |
| Timestamp | When you signed, to the second |
| Review duration | How long you spent before signing |
| The attestation text | Verbatim, as it stood when you agreed to it |
Decide with the whole picture.
Applying costs nothing and commits you to nothing, and the commercial terms are shown in full before a first case.