The Northern Ireland Parades Commission has announced plans to make formal rulings on controversial parades at least five days before they are due to take place and to publish a preliminary view even further in advance.
The commission will be sending teams into areas throughout the North to investigate the nature of local disputes over parades. It hopes to publish a preliminary view of how contentious marches in areas such as Portadown, Co Armagh, Dunloy, Co Antrim, and the Lower Ormeau in Belfast should be handled.
The preliminary view, although significant, will not be legally binding. No date has yet been set for this announcement but it could be made as early as April. The proposals, however, depend on the acceptance of rules drawn up by the commission which were published yesterday.
The commission also released draft guidelines and a proposed code of conduct for those involved in parades. It calls for high standards from all marchers and for respect to be shown when passing sensitive locations such as war memorials and churches.
It advises that when marchers are in an area of a different tradition their behaviour should be respectful and that no sectarian tunes should be played. It recommends that there be "communication" between parade organisers and residents.
The commission will take into account adherence to its code of conduct when deliberating on a parade dispute. It published three booklets yesterday, Procedural Rules, Guidelines, and Code of Conduct. They are out for consultation until February.
Legislation empowering the commission is currently with the British parliament and is expected to be passed by early next year. The new laws will transfer decision-making on controversial marches from the RUC to the commission.
Its formal decisions on disputes will be legally binding. Unionists and the Orange Order have expressed scepticism about the commission. The hardline Spirit of Drumcree group has told its followers to boycott the body. Several nationalist residents' groups have also said that they have no confidence in the commission.