Legislation

Network law is made by measure. A measure is a text passed by the Network Assembly of the Velocity Interoperability Network that binds the departments and network services of the Velocity Interoperability Network, and the member organisations to the extent the measure provides. This page explains how a measure passes through the Assembly, lists every measure introduced to date, and records the steps by which the Assembly itself came to be established.

Measures are numbered in the order of their introduction in each year. The text of every measure, the explanatory note prepared by Counsel to the Assembly and the report of the committee that examined it are published on this site at each stage. Once certified, a measure is transmitted to the Official Register of the Network, which is the authoritative source for the law in force.

How a measure becomes Network law. Every measure passes through the seven stages below. The Standing Orders permit an accelerated procedure, in which the stages are taken at a single sitting, only for measures concerning the Assembly's own constitution and only with the agreement of two-thirds of the delegates seated.

1. 1

   Step 1: Proposal and drafting

   A measure may be proposed by a department or network service, by a delegation of five or more delegates, or by a committee. Counsel to the Assembly settles the text in the standard form and prepares an explanatory note setting out what the measure does and whom it binds.

2. 2

   Step 2: Introduction and first reading

   The Clerk enters the measure in the Register of Measures with a number for the year, and its title is read at the next sitting. No debate takes place at first reading. The text and explanatory note are made public the same day.

3. 3

   Step 3: Committee examination

   The measure stands referred to the standing committee whose remit it falls within. The committee takes written evidence from anyone who wishes to submit it, may hear witnesses, and reports to the Assembly within 28 days with any amendments it recommends.

4. 4

   Step 4: Second reading

   The Assembly debates the principle of the measure in the light of the committee's report. If the question that the measure be read a second time is agreed, the measure proceeds; if it is negatived, the measure is withdrawn from the Register.

5. 5

   Step 5: Consideration of amendments

   The Assembly considers the measure clause by clause. Amendments recommended by the committee, and any tabled by a delegate at least two sitting days in advance, are decided in the order of the clauses to which they relate.

6. 6

   Step 6: Third reading

   The Assembly votes on the measure as amended. A measure passes on a majority of delegates voting. A measure that amends the Standing Orders or affects the composition of the Assembly requires the votes of two-thirds of the delegates seated.

7. 7

   Step 7: Certification and commencement

   The Presiding Officer certifies that the measure has passed, and the Clerk transmits it to the Official Register of the Network for publication. A measure commences on the day stated in it or, if none is stated, on the fourteenth day after certification.

The Register of Measures. The Register is kept by the Clerk and lists every measure introduced in the Assembly with its current stage. Five measures were introduced at the inaugural sitting. The four referred to committees are expected to receive their second reading in the sitting week beginning 13 October 2026.

Anyone may submit written evidence to a committee on a measure before it. Evidence is published with the committee's report unless the committee agrees to withhold it. The procedure and the closing dates for evidence on the measures now before committees are set out on the Committees page.

Establishment of the Assembly. The Assembly was established on 6 September 2026 at the end of a transition period in which its delegates were elected and its Standing Orders were settled. The chronology below records the principal steps.

1. July 2026

   Decision to establish a deliberative assembly

   Member organisations of the Network resolved that the departments and network services to be established on 6 September 2026 should answer to an elected assembly, and that the assembly should be in place on the day of establishment.

2. 10 August 2026

   Transition period begins

   The Member Registry assigned each of the 312 member organisations to one of twelve member constituencies, and the timetable for electing delegates was published.

3. 11 to 15 August 2026

   Election of delegates

   Member organisations in each constituency elected five delegates from among the candidates nominated by organisations in that constituency. Results were declared on 15 August.

4. 18 August 2026

   Preparatory Convention constituted

   The 60 delegates-designate met for the first time, appointed a Provisional Chair and agreed a timetable for settling the Standing Orders before establishment.

5. 28 August 2026

   Standing Orders adopted provisionally

   After consideration of 41 amendments, the Convention adopted the Standing Orders on a division of 47 to 9, to take effect provisionally until confirmed by the Assembly itself.

6. 4 September 2026

   Convention dissolved

   The Convention adopted its report to the inaugural sitting, recommending five standing committees and a fortnightly pattern of sittings, and dissolved.

7. 6 September 2026

   Assembly established; Measure 1 of 2026 certified

   The Assembly held its inaugural sitting, elected its officers, confirmed the Standing Orders and passed the Assembly (Procedure) Measure, its first measure, under the accelerated procedure.

8. Forthcoming

   Citizens' Representation Measure and the first citizens' election

   If passed, Measure 5 of 2026 provides for the election of 24 citizen delegates in six citizen constituencies, expected in the first quarter of 2027.

For the record of sittings and divisions, see Proceedings; for the rules of debate and the tabling of amendments, see the Standing Orders; for the wider history of the Assembly, see History. Questions about a measure, including requests for its text in an alternative format, may be sent to contact@assembly.gov.vin.