The power struggle between the civilian and operational heads of the new single police force over who should control certain functions has yet to be resolved, MSPs have heard.
Police Service of Scotland Chief Constable Stephen House said he is "struggling" with Vic Emery, the chairman of civilian oversight body the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), over who should have day-to-day control over human resources and finance.
Mr House believes they should be under his supervision at the new police HQ while Mr Emery believes they should remain closer to the civilian structure, MSPs heard.
Mr House told the Justice Committee about "grey areas" in governance and ambiguities in the Police And Fire Reform Act, including "a gobsmacking major problem" where the Act does not appear to give him control over police support staff. The two men said they have taken their own legal advice to discern what their roles and responsibilities would be and have pledged to present this advice to the committee.
Tuesday's evidence comes after the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents raised concerns about a lack of clarity about the functions of the chief constable and the SPA.
Labour committee member Graeme Pearson stressed the importance of clarity over who leads the new service. He compared the current situation to the "shambles" at the BBC, where "no one was quite sure who was in charge".
Mr House said: "I don't have any difficulty with what you say. I'm not surprised we're here, quite frankly. This is new legislation with two new organisations and I would have been amazed if it had all gone completely and utterly smoothly, and if it had it would probably have been wrong.
"During my selection process some part of the press asked me if there was a danger of central control and domination of the police by a powerful individual, I think they had in mind a senior politician, simply bullying the chief constable into doing what the chief constable didn't want to do but felt they had no choice.
"What we are seeing here is that the governance, in macro terms, is probably working because we are struggling with this in a couple of areas but the much wider canvas is agreed really.
"In a couple of key areas we're struggling with it, but we're not hiding that. We're not going to the press to talk about it, but we are talking to other people and saying that we have got an issue here."
