The British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland said this evening that devolved government in the North will acquire policing and justice powers in May 2008.
Peter Hain
Speaking in Westminster, where the Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Bill is being rushed through the British parliament this week, Mr Hain said the St Andrews Agreement had set the target date for a devolved government to take over the powers from Westminster.
He added that there was nothing preventing a future devolved Policing and Justice Minister from legitimately criticising the police.
"The St Andrews Agreement included a clear commitment and a target of May 2008 for the devolution of policing and justice powers to the restored executive," he said during the Second Reading of emergency legislation aimed at restoring power sharing next May.
"We expect all concerned to take this target seriously. "Indeed the Bill requires the Assembly to report to the Secretary of State before March 27 2008 on progress for the devolution of policing and justice powers.
"And I want to make it clear that, once policing and justice is devolved, there is nothing in the pledge which would remove or unreasonably constrain any future Minister for Policing and Justice from making legitimate criticism of the police."
The Northern Ireland Bill sets out a timetable for reviving devolution by March 26 of next year.
If it is passed, the legislation will create a Transitional Assembly from this Friday, with the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein expected to signal the Rev Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness will be their nominees as First and Deputy First Minister next March in the event of power sharing returning.
The Transitional Assembly will meet until January 30 when it will be dissolved for fresh Assembly elections on March 7, 2007. One week after the results, parties who qualify for devolved ministries will nominate Assembly members to Stormont's cabinet posts.
On March 26, the new ministers will take office and devolution will return.
As he moved the Bill, Mr Hain spelt out the consequences if its politicians failed to seize the opportunity for devolved government.
"If at any stage between now and March 26 we run out of track then devolution becomes dissolution. "The clock is stopped. The election scrapped. That is the reality. "In that event direct rule and Plan B with even closer co-operation with the Irish Government will stretch into the foreseeable future."
If the British and Irish governments' St Andrews plan for devolution in Northern Ireland is to be realised, the Rev Ian Paisley of the DUP insists Sinn Féin must change its policy on policing by publicly endorsing the PSNI.
But Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has insisted that the DUP will need to agree to a date for the transfer of policing and justice powers from Westminster to Stormont before he can call a special party conference to change its policing policy.
After the inaugural meeting of the Stormont Programme for Government Committee yesterday, DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson warned that unless Sinn Féin moved first it could be several political lifetimes before policing and justice powers were devolved.