Regional Constitution

Data artifactGovernance & ComplianceSafety, Security & Governancearc:RegionalConstitution

A constitution composed of universal core principles plus culturally-adapted, jurisdiction-specific principles that respect local legal requirements without contradicting core safety commitments.

Responsibility. Specifies region-specific principles layered on universal core principles.

Also known as: Core plus culturally-adapted principles, Regional constitution variant, Geographically gated principles

Variant of Constitution abstract

When to choose. Choose for globally deployed systems whose jurisdictions differ in law and cultural norms (e.g., political speech, religious expression), accepting higher design, evaluation and maintenance cost.

Direct neighbourhood (hover for relationship types)

Relationships

is read by dependency

Jurisdictional Principle Selector Ch9.5

alternative to variability

Design guidance

MUST keep core safety principles consistent across all regions while adapting only culturally variable principles.
SHOULD document explicitly where regional principles conflict with core principles and communicate regional variations to users transparently.

Classification

Patterns: Global principles with local adaptationGeographic gating
Quality attributes: Flexibility (ISO/IEC 25010)Transparency and accountability (NIST AI RMF: accountable and transparent)
Risks mitigated: Violating local legal or cultural normsMarginalizing non-dominant value systems

Sources

Ch9.5: T. Nguyen, "Constitutional AI," in Mastering Agentic AI Systems: Guide for the NVIDIA NCP-AAI Exam, 1st ed. 2026, ch. 9.5. ISBN: 9798244538229.