The introduction of European Human Rights legislation in Northern Ireland in October could completely alter the manner in which public order situations such as Drumcree will have to be policed in future, according to RUC sources quoted in the Sunday Times yesterday.
Other powers affected by the legislation, which will bring the European Convention on Human Rights into British law, concern the use of force, firing of plastic bullets, the mounting of undercover operations and the conducting of searches.
The Sunday Times quoted senior officers as saying the legislation would have a much bigger impact on the police's work than the Patten proposals on the future of policing in Northern Ireland, and would "revolutionise" the North's criminal justice system.
The legislation - which is specifically aimed at protecting the rights of individuals - is expected to outlaw huge advance security operations, such as those at Drumcree.
Officers will also be required to keep written records of the reasons for any decisions they take. These records will have to be handed over to the courts if a suspect claims his human rights have been violated by the police.
Meanwhile, the Orange Order is reported to be planning to use the new legislation to enforce its right to march by citing Article 11 of the convention, which states that "everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association with others", and that "no restrictions should be placed on the exercise of those rights other than such as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety".
Nationalists, however, are likely to take recourse to Article Eight of the same convention, stating that "everyone has a right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence".