Assembly law fudges deadline day

By Martina Purdy BBC Northern Ireland political correspondent

If you are looking for any clues in the government's new emergency legislation as to what might happen at Stormont on 24 November, forget it.

Voters will elect a new assembly next March

The bill, designed to take forward the St Andrews legislation, does not make clear that the DUP and Sinn Fein have to nominate a first and deputy first minister-designate next Friday.

Nor does it tie the designated first and deputy first ministers to take a pledge of office, transitional or otherwise, on that date.

Exactly when the first and deputy first minister-designate and all other ministers have to take this pledge is pretty much fudged in the legislation.

What the bill does is create a new transitional assembly which will run from 24 November until 26 March. During this period, the bill makes allowances for the dissolution of the assembly on January 30 and an election on March 7.

The bill merely requires that the first and deputy first ministers-designate be nominated during the life of the transitional assembly.

This could happen anytime between 24 November and 26 March. Given that the election is set in legislation for 7 March, the DUP is unlikely to want to fill the top post until after that point.

A plan was outlined by Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern at St Andrews

So it is likely that the formal nominations to top posts and taking of pledge of office will be deferred until after that date.

The new pledge now requires ministers to participate fully in the power-sharing Executive, the North-South Ministerial Council and the British-Irish Council, to observe the joint nature of the Office of First and Deputy First Minister and to support the PSNI, the Policing Board and the courts.

Ministers will, in fact, affirm their commitment to paragraph six of the St Andrews Agreement which also defines support for the rule of law and policing as encouraging cooperation with the police to solve crimes.

The secretary of state can also dissolve the assembly any time before 26 March if he deems that there is no prospect of a return to devolution

This pledge obviously will not be taken by the Sinn Fein ministers until after the party has called a special Ard Fheis to endorse policing.

During the transitional period, the assembly will have more power than the one created this year by Peter Hain in the spring.

In the new transitional assembly, the Speaker and the business committee should be able to decide what to debate, for example.

The transitional period is to be used by the Assembly members to draw up a new ministerial code of conduct, to ensure ministerial collectivity, and to work on Standing Order or rules for the assembly.

If the parties fail in this task before 26 March, the task falls to the secretary of state to impose rules.

The secretary of state can also dissolve the assembly any time before 26 March if he deems that there is no prospect of a return to devolution.

The government has taken the power to allow assembly member's salaries and expenses to continue until the end of January on the promise of devolution

What is more, Peter Hain can pull the plug if ministers fail to nominate in time for devolution day on 26 March.

In doing so, the election which would normally follow such a dissolution would also be cancelled.

Sunset clause

There is also a sunset clause. If there is no devolution next March, then the proposed changes to the 1998 assembly which gave life to the Good Friday Agreement would be repealed.

Some of the changes that have been made to the Good Friday Agreement are designed to prevent a repeat of what occurred in the 1998 assembly - such as then-First Minister David Trimble's ban on Sinn Fein attending the North-South Ministerial Council and the refusal of the DUP to take part in the Executive, the North-South Ministerial Council and the British-Irish Council.

All ministers must now take part in all the institutions.

One of the changes in legislation is that 30 members of the Assembly can, through a petition, demand the Executive examine a decision in the public interest.

Devolution of policing and justice can only occur through parallel consent, that is, a majority of unionists would have to agree, alongside a majority of nationalists

There are also new rules preventing ministers from bypassing the Executive on important decisions. Other rules governing the ministerial code have yet to be agreed.

In terms of the devolution of policing and justice, the date envisaged at St Andrews of May 2008 remains in the legislation as an aspirational time-frame.

The Northern Ireland Assembly will be required to report to the secretary of state by 27 March 2008 on what preparations have been made on the issue.

The DUP retains the vetoes it won in the failed Comprehensive 2004 negotiations. These vetoes were placed in the Miscellaneous Provisions Act.

A motion can only be brought before the assembly on the devolution of policing and justice if the first and deputy first minister both agree.

Devolution of policing and justice can only occur through parallel consent, that is, a majority of unionists would have to agree, alongside a majority of nationalists.

Composition

There are also provisions, following an Assembly election, for some changes to the membership of District Policing Partnerships.

The Policing Board will examine each partnership to determine whether the composition needs to change.

This, according to the some sources, is designed to allow Sinn Fein to take places on the partnerships in future.

This, however, will not just affect the political appointees, there is also provision to remove independents also where the partnerships are being reconstituted.

After previously threatening MLAs with no salaries if there is no devolution by 24 November, the government has taken the power to allow assembly member's salaries and expenses to continue until the end of January on the promise of devolution.