A High Court action was launched by Sinn Fein today to have a ceasefire watchdog in Northern Ireland declared unlawful.
Sinn Fein MP Conor Murphy confirmed papers had been lodged in the High Court in London accusing the four-member Independent Monitoring Commission of bias and calling for its reports to date to be declared null and void.
The Commission was set up by the British and Irish governments in January 2004 to report on the state of republican and loyalist paramilitary ceasefires and moves to scale down security in Northern Ireland.
It has produced seven reports to date, accusing the IRA of crimes such as the £26.5 million Northern Bank robbery.
Its latest in October said the IRA was making encouraging progress towards implementing its statement in July declaring an end to its armed campaign.
Mr Murphy today reiterated Sinn Fein's view that the commission was established outside the terms of the Belfast Agreement.
"It has proven itself to be little more than a tool of anti-peace process securocrats," the Newry and Armagh MP said. "The decision to challenge the legality of the IMC is the latest stage in our legal and political campaign against the IMC and the cover it has provided for the British Government to sanction and discriminate against our electorate.
"In this case we will be arguing that the establishment of the IMC was unlawful. We will be arguing that the IMC should be declared unlawful on the grounds of apparent bias and lack of any application of standards of proof.
"We are seeking the reports of the IMC to date declared void and the reliance on these reports by the British Secretary of State declared unlawful.
"Sinn Fein have consistently rejected the IMC and their attacks on our party and electorate. It is undemocratic, unaccountable and entirely unacceptable and our campaign to ensure that the British Government returns to the Good Friday Agreement position on sanctions against those in breach of the GFA will continue."
The IMC's members are former Stormont Assembly Speaker Lord Alderdice, retired Irish civil servant Joe Brosnan, ex-Metropolitan Police anti-terror unit chief John Grieve and Richard Kerr, a former deputy director of the CIA.