The Criminal Justice Review Group has recommended that the police role in bringing prosecutions in the North end and that a new, independent prosecution service be established.
The service will build on the responsibilities and work of the present Director of Public Prosecutions Office, which prosecutes the more serious cases in the magistrate's court and all cases in the crown court.
It will be called the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland and will be similar to the Scottish procurator fiscal system. It would take over every level of prosecution, from motoring offences to murder cases. The prosecutors' functions will be expanded.
In the North, the RUC currently carries out around three-quarters of all criminal prosecutions. These include a large number of motoring offences but also crimes such as burglary, theft and assault. The RUC's direct role in bringing prosecutions for lesser offences will be removed.
Unlike some other countries, the prosecutor would not have a role in supervising police investigations but would become involved at an early stage, especially in serious cases, to give legal advice to officers.
The prosecutors will also decide what charges are brought to court. A range of diversionary measures designed to cut the number of cases ending up in court is also proposed.
These include the ability to impose fines for less serious offences. The review recommends that prosecutors become more publicly accountable.
"At present, prosecutors in Northern Ireland do not usually give detailed reasons to victims or others for decisions not to prosecute. This is because giving reasons might imply the guilt of an individual in the eyes of the public or reveal information that would be damaging to others in the case," the review says.
"We suggest the presumption would shift towards giving reasons for not prosecuting to those with a proper interest in the case if this can be done without harming the interests of justice or the public interest."
The report also recommends that a more defined "consultative relationship" be established between government and the prosecutors' office. If judicial powers are devolved from Westminster to Belfast, that consultation would occur through an attorney general appointed by the Executive.
The attorney general would be "a non-political legal figure of high standing" who would oversee the prosecution service. The report suggests that the new prosecutors work with the community.
"Public understanding of the role of the prosecutor and confidence in the prosecution system can be enhanced by effective communication and outreach and by more formal measures such as a published annual report; a code of practice; a published code of ethics; good practice guidelines; inspection arrangements; and a well-publicised complaints mechanisms."
The members of the Criminal Justice System Review group were: Northern Ireland Office officials: Mr Jim Daniell, director of Criminal Justice at the NIO (leader of the group); Mr Glenn Thompson, director of the NI Court Service; Mr David Seymour, legal secretary to the Law Officers; and Mr Ian Maye, Criminal Justice Policy Division of the NIO. Independent assessors: Prof Joanna Shapland, Professor of Criminal Justice at Sheffield University; Prof John Jackson, Professor of Public Law and head of the Law School, Queen's University Belfast; Mr Eugene Grant QC; Dr Bill Lockhart, director of the Centre for Independent Research and Analysis of Crime; and Mr John Gower QC, retired English judge.