A s part of the political agreement in South Africa, it was decided that individual perpetrators, rather than any political party, would be held solely responsible for all post-settlement crime, writes David Adams.
Thus politicians not only signalled their trust in one another, but also distanced themselves from former comrades who might be tempted to continue "the struggle", or to engage in criminality under the guise of political activism. This decision also ensured that the new political arrangements would not collapse under a weight of recrimination during the upsurge in crime that inevitably accompanies the disintegration of paramilitary groups.
Events in Northern Ireland have shown that we should have included something similar in our own peace settlement.
As things stand, theoretically at least, the survival of the Assembly is dependent on the good behaviour of those with even tenuous links to mainstream republicanism.
Sinn Féin, despite being a senior partner in the Executive, is still held accountable for every criminal act by current and former members of the IRA - with no indication of when, if at all, this might change. Such accountability was essential until the IRA decommissioned and Sinn Féin gave its full support to the PSNI. However, as soon as republicans addressed those issues, it became wholly counter-productive.
Take, for example, the recent brutal murder of Paul Quinn. No one in Northern Ireland is in any doubt that this man was beaten to death by past and/or present members of south Armagh IRA. Senior Garda and PSNI officers have said little publicly, but haven't been shy about briefing journalists to that effect. Independent Monitoring Commission member John Grieve has not been quite so reticent, openly stating that those involved in the murder were IRA members "past or present, or associates".
Yet Gerry Adams, along with Sinn Féin MP for the area Conor Murphy, still denies any republican involvement. Heaping insult upon the Quinn family's already substantial misery, Sinn Féin representatives have scurrilously claimed that a falling out amongst criminal gangs was the most likely reason for the murder.
The DUP, who hounded David Trimble from office for far less serious republican infractions, has taken to mumbling that the critical question is whether or not the IRA was "corporately responsible" for the Quinn murder.
It's as though we are meant to believe that the IRA operates like some business conglomerate, with major decisions only taken at meticulously recorded board meetings, with the minutes of those meetings open to scrutiny to ascertain whether an action was authorised.
Within days of the murder, the Northern Secretary, Shaun Woodward, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, said they were confident the IRA was not responsible.
Despite the evidence, politicians of virtually every stripe are persisting in the fiction that Paul Quinn was not murdered by members of the IRA or associates.
This fudge is all to protect the political institutions at Stormont. Yet the paradox is blindingly obvious.
The other parties have self-evidently deemed Sinn Féin trustworthy enough to be in government in the first place, even to the extent where they are now prepared to shelter that party from the full implications of the truth being exposed.
Therefore, regarding the latter point, the firm belief (rightly in my view) must be that Sinn Féin had no prior knowledge of the Quinn murder, and would have opposed it happening if it had. If such trust exists, why continue with this farce? Such blatant denials of the obvious are only destroying public confidence in the very institutions that the politicians are so determined to protect.
In this post-settlement era, all of the political parties at the Assembly should make an agreement similar to that of their South African counterparts. They should publicly articulate their trust in one another, and declare that the actions of outside forces, irrespective of perceived connections, would not be allowed to bring down the political institutions.
This would allow them, and others, to be more open about such crimes in the future, as well as lifting the perpetual threat of collapse from the Assembly. Sinn Féin has joined the policing board, taken its seats on the district policing partnerships, and been active in introducing PSNI officers into republican areas.
On numerous occasions, republican politicians have voiced support for policing and called on their communities to co-operate fully in investigations. The party's non-reaction to the recent arrest and charging of Thomas "Slab" Murphy spoke volumes about where it now stands on the issue of criminality.
It is hard to imagine what more can be done.
In fact, no one has ever indicated what more is required of Sinn Féin before its period of probation is ended. If Sinn Féin is being deceitful, then the residents of places like south Armagh will be well aware of it.
Let any sanction be applied by them - at the polling booth.