Plan would have led to transfer of policing powers

MOVES to transfer policing and justice powers to the Stormont Executive would have begun within months under the Northern devolution plan.

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams was also set to recommend that his party end its boycott of the PSNI as soon as the new policing laws were passed.

Republicans have refused to back the police service and encourage their supporters not to join until further reforms are achieved.

A key demand was for the control of policing and justice to be switched from Westminster to Belfast.

In the draft proposals for breaking the political deadlock, the process would have been examined as soon as total IRA disarmament was confirmed at the end of December.

“The British Government will commit to introducing into Parliament by the summer of 2005 the legislation necessary to permit devolution to take place,” the document said.

Bringing the powers into force would depend on a cross-community vote in favour of the move being carried in the Assembly.

“The British government will work to promote the necessary confidence to allow such a vote to take place within two years,” the proposals said.

Under the process mapped out, London and Dublin would have expected Sinn Féin to join the Policing Board, which scrutinises Chief Constable Hugh Orde, by the time the Policing and Justice Bill came into force.

As part of the sequence, a planned statement from Mr Adams would see him proposing to his party executive that it call a special conference to decide whether to support the new policing arrangements.

“For nationalists and republicans the experience of policing within the north has been historically negative,” his statement would have said.

“As a result of our discussions we now have a commitment from the British government and the DUP to the transfer of powers on policing and justice to the Assembly as soon as possible... and a commitment from the British government that it will enact in 2005 the necessary legislation to enable the transfer of policing and justice powers away from London.

“In light of these critically important developments I now intend to call together an Ard Chomhairle meeting and to recommend to it that we convene a special Ard Fheis to decide on the issue of policing as soon as the legislation is enacted.”