VES artefact definition

DPS is a canonical, human-readable rendering of provenance evidence. It is defined under the Veriscopic Evidence Standard (VES) and rendered via conforming implementations (e.g. VES-EP). It is defined under the Veriscopic Evidence Standard (VES).

Decision Provenance Summary (DPS)

The Decision Provenance Summary (DPS) is a board-grade, insurer-readable summary of how judgement was exercised at a point in time, and what information state existed when that judgement was made.

Integrity statement (must appear)

Integrity-only posture

This summary preserves evidence of how judgement was exercised at the time indicated. It does not evaluate correctness, adequacy, compliance, intent, or outcomes. Verification confirms integrity only.

Canonical DPS structure

DPS is defined as a fixed page order. Sections may be omitted only when explicitly stated as not present.

Page 1 — Evidence cover page

Title: Decision Provenance Summary
VES ID: (prominent)
Organisation: legal entity name
Judgement exercised (UTC): timestamp
Evidence period covered: range (if applicable)
Immutability status: immutable | superseded | withdrawn

Footer (verbatim):

This summary preserves evidence of how judgement was exercised at the time indicated.
It does not evaluate the quality or outcome of the decision.

Page 2 — Decision context

Records what decision was required and why, without justification claims.

Decision required (neutral description)
Triggering circumstances
Constraints present at the time
Time sensitivity (if applicable)

Exclusion box (verbatim):

This section records context, not justification.

Page 3 — Information state at time of judgement

Records what was available (and what was not) when judgement was exercised.

Information available
Documents referenced (version-bound; VES-linked where available)
Data sources relied upon
Known unknowns and declared uncertainties
Reliance events (e.g. consent relied upon) where present

Page 4 — Judgement & responsibility (role-bound)

Roles exercising judgement
Options considered
Trade-offs acknowledged
Options explicitly not pursued (where recorded)

Footer (recommended):

Responsibility is recorded by role to reflect organisational decision structures at the time.

Page 5 — Subsequent events (appendix only, optional)

Subsequent events may be appended, but must not edit earlier pages. They reference new records and preserve the original information state.

Linkage to VES Evidence Packs

DPS may be produced as a standalone artefact, or as a named section within a broader Evidence Pack export. Where included in an Evidence Pack, the DPS must retain the canonical headings above.