The greatest weakness in the policing arrangements created by the new Northern Ireland parliament in 1922 was that they provided for direct political control of the police force by the unionist government through the minister of home affairs.

This encouraged nationalists to view the police with hostility, as the armed wing of unionism, and caused unionists to regard the overwhelmingly Protestant police as "ours". This long-standing fissure lies at the heart of the still-flawed police relationship with both sections of the deeply divided community. When Lord Hunt examined these arrangements in 1969, one of the most important reforms he called for was the creation of an independent, broadly representative police authority to become a buffer between the police and the politicians which would also act as a conduit for the wishes and fears of the entire community.

Since the authority was created in 1970, it has never worked as Hunt intended. The 1970 legislation was fatally flawed in that it failed to define rigorously enough the responsibilities of the police, specifically the chief constable, and the authority in their interactive roles.

With the community plunged into long-term civil disorder almost at once, the new structures were never given any real chance to work. After direct rule was introduced in 1972, the unforeseen involvement of the British government and army rendered the tripartite relationship void, in any accountable fashion.

The failings in the system were further exacerbated by a succession of personality clashes between various combinations of secretaries of state, chief constables and authority chairmen.

The authority, too, has comprehensively failed both the RUC and the community it is supposed to represent by taking an altogether too restrictive view of its responsibilities and a far too timid approach to calling the police to account for its performance. These factors contributed to nationalist unwillingness to participate in the work of the authority, further undermining its credibility.

The current Labour government sidestepped a golden opportunity to put things right when, last July, it failed to include in the Police Northern Ireland Act, 1998, any provision for properly defining the tripartite relationship which lies at the heart of the policing function and has to be the cornerstone of a new policing era in which a police service, primarily committed to non-aggressive, close-contact community policing can attract the consent, co-operation and participation of the entire community.

Chris Patten and his commissioners, who are currently working under the terms of the Belfast Agreement to produce the terms for a new beginning in policing, must not sidestep this fundamental issue by ensuring that the shortcomings of 1922, 1969 and 1998 are finally remedied in their report.

What they must do, as I have urged them in a lengthy submission, is to specifically define the tripartite relationship between the Secretary of State (and eventually the Northern Ireland administration), the chief constable and the body through which the community can hold the police to account.

It is therefore paramount that future policing arrangements underpin the operational independence of the chief constable but provide for him, or her (for in due course I am confident a woman will get the job), to be jointly accountable to elected politicians and the community so that there is no exclusive or direct political control of the police but joint political-community oversight through high-calibre people, drawn from the largest two sections of the community and the ethnic minorities.

New legislation must therefore provide for the Secretary of State to protect the operational independence of the chief constable from undue political direction or partisan influence or control in respect of the financial and operational planning for the provision and delivery of the police service.

The Secretary of State must also ensure that the views of the body overseeing the police, statutory or otherwise, and the entire community are obtained and taken into consideration by the chief constable in the planning and provision of the police service.

As the Police Authority is so lacking in credibility and has clearly lost its way, a new Northern Ireland Police Oversight Commission should be created, one of whose principal duties would be to protect the operational independence of the chief constable as defined by law.

However, in a proposed procedure notably tougher than anything previously in legislation, when appropriate it would be entitled to call on the chief constable to account, orally or in writing or both, for the direction, control and deployment of the police service, in any general or specific policy or operational context, so that they can be fully satisfied on behalf of the community as to the impartiality, efficiency and effectiveness of the police service and its members.

The legislation would clearly state that the police service shall be directed, controlled and deployed only by the chief constable and officers under his command but would require him, in discharging his functions, to have regard to, and take into full consideration, the views, statutory or otherwise, either orally or in writing, of the Secretary of State and the Northern Ireland Police Oversight Commission.

Another important foundation stone needs to be put in place for the new policing order to work and improve relations and confidence between the police and all sections of society.

The general duty of police officers should therefore be more strongly redefined, requiring them: to protect human rights, life and property for the benefit of the entire community; to assist any person in danger, need or distress; to preserve order; to prevent the commission of offences; and, where an offence has been committed, to take measures to bring the offender to justice with all due speed.

Most significantly, every officer should be given the statutory duty to exercise the powers of a constable impartially within the law and treat all persons courteously and with dignity, without regard to status, culture, ethnicity, tradition, religious or political belief.

In addition, an officer must also be required to promote and maintain public confidence and trust in the police service by refraining from any activities, on or off duty, which could prejudice the consent, confidence or co-operation of reasonable members of the public in the police service or cause doubt about the impartial discharge of police powers and duties.

This would enable officers involved with secretive, oath-bound organisations like the Freemasons or Orange Order to be more effectively dealt with if or when they engage in any partisan or controversial activity.

Chris Ryder is the author of The RUC 1922-1997: A Force Under Fire (Mandarin). He is a former member of the Police Authority for Northern Ireland