The head of the Northern Ireland judiciary has used a rare public appearance to outline a vision of the devolution of policing and justice powers planned to take effect next May.
Lord Chief Justice Sir Brian Kerr told a Stormont Assembly committee it would be "inappropriate" to comment on the proposals for either two ministries handling policing and justice issues or for a single ministry with two ministers with distinct portfolios.
He told members of the Assembly and Executive Review Committee he would insist on proper separation of powers.
"You will not receive observations from me on whether there should be two ministries or one, two ministers or one. That, as it seems to me, is a matter of policy on which I, as a judge, should not make comment," he said.
The committee, chaired by DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson, has been hearing evidence on proposals for transfer of justice powers. However, the parties are divided on how soon this should happen. Policing board chairman, Prof Sir Desmond Rea, also appeared yesterday and Northern Secretary Shaun Woodward is due to address members today.
Sir Brian insisted that while judicial independence and a separation from the executive and legislature was "a cornerstone of democracy", this did not mean that judges wanted immunity from scrutiny.
"Judges are not troubled by the need for them to be accountable," he said. "But accountability must take place in its proper context and should not imperil the essential concept of judicial independence." He said it was his considered view that the "most appropriate" model for a court service would be one that was "at arm's length from the government under a board chaired by the lord chief justice - in other words a non-ministerial department".
He was clear that other models were "possible" and that "different approaches" had been taken in other jurisdictions. But he concluded: "The non-ministerial department is the best option", and he described this option as "the optimal arrangement".
He said this was the direction adopted by Scotland and the Republic and was also a model recommended by the Canadian judicial council. Such a model would afford "maximum safeguard for judicial independence" as well as "administrative efficiency".
Sir Brian admitted that such a proposal would require fresh legislation but he hoped this would not prove to be an obstacle.
Outlining five principal advantages, he said his preferred model would "reflect the appropriate constitutional position by preserving the independence of the judiciary" and would also prove to be the most efficient.
"The judges and others on the board . . . Will be best equipped to know what the service requires." He also said court service staff "would know clearly what their lines of accountability were", and he further claimed that judges were best placed to devise targets for the new service. Describing his final point as being of "crucial importance", he said any new service should have "built-in accountability arrangements so that the Executive can discharge its duty of ensuring that proper standards are set for the service provided".