Composition and remit.
The Independent Monitoring Commission "went live" in January 2004.
Members are: Richard Kerr: former deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency;
Commander John Grieve: former head of Metropolitan Police's anti-terrorist squad;
Lord Alderdice (right): the former presiding officer of the Assembly and former leader of the Alliance party;
Joe Brosnan: a former senior civil servant at the Department of Justice.
The commission reports on the IRA and loyalist ceasefires every six months.
It also scrutinises the government's programme of demilitarisation and complaints about political tactics which threaten the stability of the devolved institutions.
However, only the British government's nominees - Lord Alderdice and Commander John Grieve - examine how devolved ministers and Northern Ireland parties are honouring their commitments under the Belfast Agreement.