A row between the DUP and Sinn Féin over a proposal to appoint a chief victims' commissioner has led to the sudden postponement of the necessary legislation in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
The penultimate consideration stage of the Victims and Survivors Bill was pulled from the agenda only minutes before it was set to be debated by MLAs.
The bill had been given an accelerated passage so that it would become law quickly.
But DUP junior minister Jeffrey Donaldson told the Assembly it would not now be moved. He said the bill would be discussed by the business committee.
The DUP and Sinn Féin are at odds over a proposed Alliance Party amendment to elevate one of the four newly appointed commissioners to the position of chief commissioner.
The DUP is backing the proposal but this has angered Sinn Féin, which accused the party of backtracking on the terms of an agreement between the First and Deputy First ministers at the end of last year.
The creation of the new commission has been dogged by controversy and delay from the outset.
The First and Deputy First Ministers had originally planned to appoint one commissioner, however, in January they announced that they had opted to create a four-person team.
This prompted claims that the two ministers had been unable to agree on one candidate.
Meanwhile, the decision to appoint Patricia McBride, the sister of an IRA man shot dead by the SAS, as one of the commissioners angered some unionist victims and the creation of the body is now subject to a legal challenge.
The other three commissioners are former TV broadcaster Mike Nesbitt, ex-interim victims' commissioner Bertha McDougall and Brendan McAllister of Mediation NI.
Each will be paid £65,000 a year with the entire commission costing £750,000 per annum.
