> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.svrnos.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# GER-307 · Rule Activation Failure

> A rule exists. A responsible party encounters a case the rule was designed for. The rule is never invoked at decision time. The rule remains intact on paper. The connection between the case and the rule is never made ope…

export const Badge = ({children, tone = "default", title}) => {
  const tones = {
    default: "bg-neutral-100 text-neutral-700",
    green: "bg-green-100 text-green-900",
    amber: "bg-amber-100 text-amber-900",
    blue: "bg-blue-50 text-blue-900",
    gray: "bg-neutral-50 text-neutral-600"
  };
  return <span className={`inline-flex items-center px-2 py-0.5 text-xs font-mono uppercase tracking-wider rounded ${tones[tone] ?? tones.default}`} title={title}>
      {children}
    </span>;
};

<div className="flex flex-wrap gap-2 mb-8 mt-2">
  <Badge tone="green">Documented</Badge> <Badge>Tier 3xx</Badge> <Badge>Layer L7</Badge> <Badge tone="blue" title="SVRNOS-assigned code in an HTTP-unassigned slot">Namespace-Claim</Badge> <Badge tone="gray">Added v0.2</Badge>
</div>

*Structural Moves*

## Definition

A rule exists. A responsible party encounters a case the rule was designed for. The rule is never invoked at decision time. The rule remains intact on paper. The connection between the case and the rule is never made operational. Five sub-types: awareness gap (party doesn't know the rule applies), pattern-matching failure (party fails to recognize the case as fitting the rule), workflow gap (rule exists outside the path the case travels through), discretion structure (rule explicitly delegates activation to judgment that doesn't fire), cross-handoff drop (rule is held by one party; case passes through a different party who doesn't invoke it).

## Distinct from

* [**GER-404**](/ger/codes/404) — Rule exists but is never invoked at decision time → this code. No rule exists in the active ruleset for this harm category → GER-404.
* [**GER-420**](/ger/codes/420) — Rule exists and is held by a responsible party but never activated → this code. Rule stated in policy but no enforcement mechanism in production → GER-420.

## Documented case

<Card title="Air Canada Chatbot Reportedly Provides Inaccurate Bereavement Fare Information, Leading to Customer Overpayment" href="https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/639">
  AIID #639
</Card>

## Tags

`mass-casualty` · `violence`

### Cite

```
SVRNOS. (2026). GER-307: Rule Activation Failure. Governance Error Register. https://docs.svrnos.com/ger/codes/307
```