PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde is due to brief an Assembly committee today on the proposed transfer of policing and justice powers.
PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde
Mr Orde will appear before the Assembly and Executive Review Committee at Stormont amid signs that the proposed devolution of policing and justice powers will not happen by the target date of May.
Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward has identified the transfer of powers from the Northern Ireland Office to a new Stormont Justice Ministry as a key target during 2008.
However the British government has accepted that this objective may not happen by May.
Stormont First Minister and Democratic Unionist leader the Rev Ian Paisley has expressed doubt as to whether his community would have sufficient confidence to allow the transfer of powers to take place.
Unionists have insisted the IRA Army Council would have to be disbanded before such confidence exists. They have also been concerned about claims that Provisional IRA members were involved in the murder last October of South Armagh man Paul Quinn over the border in Co Monaghan.
Sinn Féin regard the transfer of policing and justice responsibilities as crucial and claim it was a key factor in influencing the party last year to participate in policing in Northern Ireland.