Fundamental changes in the administration of justice and policing are needed if everyone in the North is to have confidence in it, an SDLP document says.
The 60-page document, submitted yesterday to the review of the justice system under the Belfast Agreement, recommends:
replacing the Department of Public Prosecutions with an independent prosecutions office. This would remove the responsibility for public prosecutions from the RUC.
an independent appointments board to select and train members of the judiciary,
a law reform commission to review legal policy and practice and incorporate international standards into Northern law.
a neutral environment in courts acceptable to both communities. This would mean removing symbols, emblems and traditions.
Commenting on the document, Mr Alex Attwood, the SDLP Assembly member for West Belfast, urged the British government to repeal emergency legislation as well as reform the judiciary system. "Nationalists have tended to view the judicial system as not being impartial, particularly in cases involving use of force by the state," he said.
His party colleague and Assembly member for North Belfast, Mr Alban Maginness, said there was a particular need to replace the Director of Public Prosecutions with a more suitable, independent prosecution service similar to that of the US district attorney.
Meanwhile, the Alliance party has accused Sinn Fein of "crass hypocrisy" after it called for a radical reform of the legal system and the removal of top judges.
The Alliance leader, Mr Sean Neeson, said: "Over the past 30 years, many innocent people have had to suffer kangaroo courts and summary execution at the hands of the IRA."