AN INDEPENDENT review into Northern Ireland parades is understood to have recommended that the final say on controversial marches be taken from the RUC.
According to a report on UTV News last night, the North Commission is set to call for the establishment of a new commission with executive powers to decide whether marches should go ahead.
The British government asked Sir Peter North, vice chancellor of the Oxford University, to investigate the parades issue following the Drumcree stand off last summer.
The former moderator of the Presbyterian church, Dr John Dunlop, and a Strabane priest, Father Oliver Crilly, are also members of the commission, which received dozens of submissions from individuals and groups from all over Northern Ireland. It is due to publish its report in Belfast on Thursday.
It is believed the report recommends that a three to five member commission should take the final decision on contentious marches. Other recommendations apparently include that applications for marches must be made 14 to 21 days in advance, instead of seven at present.
The Orange Order will also be asked to introduce a code of conduct for marches, and bands will have to be registered.
Last night, the order expressed its concern. A spokesman said: "This commission with statutory powers is a new development. It presents a serious shift, not only in legal terms, but also in constitutional terms, because what we have here are fundamental human rights such as the right of free assembly, heavily qualified by the law.
"I think that the commission will simply, become a factory of grievances.'