From what has been posted here, there is absolutely nothing in this related to the IR.
The IR for activity protects how often you play, and when you play. You can play once a day, once every 7 days, or 9 times a day. You can log in an hour before the turn, 5 minutes after the turn, or use a random number generator to calculate how many milliseconds after 0400 GMT you will log in. The IR does NOT protect you from having to face the consequences of whatever actions you take, or do not take, when you play.
This.
If the banned noble was a priest, then it would be an IR violation to order him to recruit a unit. Otherwise, it is perfectly fine to order someone to recruit "A" unit, as long as you don't tell them to recruit infantry or archers or half-orc bards (Outer Tilog players, I want you to create a recruitment center called the half-orc bards).
And this.
Nothing protects you from doing nothing for a whole month. And as long as he's not telling you to change classes in order to be able to recruit a unit (only priests and advies cannot recruit), or telling you what kind of unit to recruit, it's fine.
