A new Public Prosecutions Service (PPS) is to be announced in Belfast this morning which will transform the system used throughout more than 30 years of conflict.
Sir Alasdair Fraser, Northern Ireland's DPP, envisages the new expanded service will be "independent, fair and effective" and will handle all files, including those where no prosecution will follow.
It will gradually take over prosecuting responsibilities currently exercised by the police. At present about 10,000 of the 75,000 files prepared each year are referred to the DPP's office. Following completion of the "roll-out" by the end of 2006, all files will be handled by the new service and all decisions will be taken by public prosecutors.
This will free police officers from many prosecution duties in courts, especially those at inspector rank. The PSNI currently prosecutes some 35,000 cases in court at present.
The PPS will also decentralise prosecution services to the regions which will be linked to court areas. It will also devolve some powers to new regional prosecutors.
Offices will open in Derry; Ballymena and Lisburn , Co Antrim; Omagh, Co Tyrone and Newry, Co Down.
Staff will be increased to 580, up from the current 150, and approximately 25 per cent will be qualified lawyers. The prosecutors' budget will rise from £14 million to about £34 million.
If policing and justice powers are devolved to any restored administration at Stormont, there are plans for Northern Ireland to have its own Attorney General and for the current UK Attorney General to become Advocate General for Northern Ireland.
Overall UK security and international relations powers will remain in London.
The prosecution service is to decide what charges are to be brought before the courts and will have the powers to screen processes leading to the charging of suspects. It will also have the power to amend charges.
It is envisaged that greater levels of co-operation will be established between prosecutors and the police which should lead to speedier and more efficient taking of cases.
Serious charges which are heard in the Crown Court will still be prosecuted by independent counsel as per the current system.
The PPS will also provide enhanced services to the victims of crime. It is planned to make more information on the progress of cases available to those who have suffered.
Accountability will be underlined by the requirement on the PPS to produce an annual report and to draw up a code of conduct and a new code of ethics.
The changes stem from the Belfast Agreement signed in 1998 which called for a review of policing, carried out by Mr Chris Patten, and a Criminal Justice Review.
The latter review reported in March 2000 and made some 294 recommendations, 49 of which referred to the prosecution service alone. The British government accepted most of the report and legislated accordingly, passing the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act in 2002.
The Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, is expected to attend the official announcement of the new service to legal practitioners and other "stakeholders" in Belfast this morning. It is understood he will praise the record of the new PPS's predecessor and look to a new service which has its roots more firmly in the communities it serves.
He is also expected to point to the need for gradual introduction of the new arrangements and the need for it to be seamless. Lord Goldsmith is also likely to stress the need for public confidence.