diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/acegisecurity/intercept/method/MethodInvocationPrivilegeEvaluator.java b/core/src/main/java/org/acegisecurity/intercept/method/MethodInvocationPrivilegeEvaluator.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d7060b5203
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/acegisecurity/intercept/method/MethodInvocationPrivilegeEvaluator.java
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+/* Copyright 2004, 2005 Acegi Technology Pty Limited
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.acegisecurity.intercept.method;
+
+import org.acegisecurity.AccessDeniedException;
+import org.acegisecurity.Authentication;
+import org.acegisecurity.ConfigAttributeDefinition;
+
+import org.acegisecurity.intercept.AbstractSecurityInterceptor;
+
+import org.aopalliance.intercept.MethodInvocation;
+
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.InitializingBean;
+
+import org.springframework.util.Assert;
+
+
+/**
+ * Allows users to determine whether they have "before invocation" privileges
+ * for a given method invocation.
+ * 
+ * <p>
+ * Of course, if an {@link org.acegisecurity.AfterInvocationManager} is used to
+ * authorize the <em>result</em> of a method invocation, this class cannot
+ * assist determine whether or not the <code>AfterInvocationManager</code>
+ * will enable access. Instead this class aims to allow applications to
+ * determine whether or not the current principal would be allowed to at least
+ * attempt to invoke the method, irrespective of the "after" invocation
+ * handling.
+ * </p>
+ *
+ * @author Ben Alex
+ * @version $Id$
+ */
+public class MethodInvocationPrivilegeEvaluator implements InitializingBean {
+    //~ Instance fields ========================================================
+
+    private AbstractSecurityInterceptor securityInterceptor;
+
+    //~ Methods ================================================================
+
+    public boolean isAllowed(MethodInvocation mi, Authentication authentication) {
+        Assert.notNull(authentication, "Authentication required");
+        Assert.notNull(authentication.getAuthorities(),
+            "Authentication must provided non-null GrantedAuthority[]s");
+        Assert.notNull(mi, "MethodInvocation required");
+        Assert.notNull(mi.getMethod(),
+            "MethodInvocation must provide a non-null getMethod()");
+
+        ConfigAttributeDefinition attrs = securityInterceptor.obtainObjectDefinitionSource()
+                                                             .getAttributes(mi);
+
+        if (attrs == null) {
+            // TODO: This should be reviewed when we complete SEC-47
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        if (authentication == null) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        try {
+            securityInterceptor.getAccessDecisionManager().decide(authentication,
+                mi, attrs);
+        } catch (AccessDeniedException unauthorized) {
+            unauthorized.printStackTrace();
+
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    public void setSecurityInterceptor(
+        AbstractSecurityInterceptor securityInterceptor) {
+        Assert.notNull(securityInterceptor,
+            "AbstractSecurityInterceptor cannot be null");
+        Assert.isTrue(MethodInvocation.class.equals(
+                securityInterceptor.getSecureObjectClass()),
+            "AbstractSecurityInterceptor does not support MethodInvocations");
+        Assert.notNull(securityInterceptor.getAccessDecisionManager(),
+            "AbstractSecurityInterceptor must provide a non-null AccessDecisionManager");
+        this.securityInterceptor = securityInterceptor;
+    }
+
+    public void afterPropertiesSet() throws Exception {
+        Assert.notNull(securityInterceptor, "SecurityInterceptor required");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/acegisecurity/intercept/method/MethodInvocationPrivilegeEvaluatorTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/acegisecurity/intercept/method/MethodInvocationPrivilegeEvaluatorTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bc06e7bfa7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/acegisecurity/intercept/method/MethodInvocationPrivilegeEvaluatorTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+/* Copyright 2004, 2005 Acegi Technology Pty Limited
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.acegisecurity.intercept.method;
+
+import junit.framework.TestCase;
+
+import org.acegisecurity.GrantedAuthority;
+import org.acegisecurity.GrantedAuthorityImpl;
+import org.acegisecurity.ITargetObject;
+
+import org.acegisecurity.intercept.method.aopalliance.MethodSecurityInterceptor;
+
+import org.acegisecurity.providers.UsernamePasswordAuthenticationToken;
+
+import org.acegisecurity.util.MethodInvocationUtils;
+
+import org.aopalliance.intercept.MethodInvocation;
+
+import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;
+import org.springframework.context.support.ClassPathXmlApplicationContext;
+
+
+/**
+ * Tests {@link
+ * org.acegisecurity.intercept.method.MethodInvocationPrivilegeEvaluator}.
+ *
+ * @author Ben Alex
+ * @version $Id$
+ */
+public class MethodInvocationPrivilegeEvaluatorTests extends TestCase {
+    //~ Constructors ===========================================================
+
+    public MethodInvocationPrivilegeEvaluatorTests() {
+        super();
+    }
+
+    public MethodInvocationPrivilegeEvaluatorTests(String arg0) {
+        super(arg0);
+    }
+
+    //~ Methods ================================================================
+
+    public static void main(String[] args) {
+        junit.textui.TestRunner.run(MethodInvocationPrivilegeEvaluatorTests.class);
+    }
+
+    public void testAllowsAccess() throws Exception {
+        UsernamePasswordAuthenticationToken token = new UsernamePasswordAuthenticationToken("Test",
+                "Password",
+                new GrantedAuthority[] {new GrantedAuthorityImpl("MOCK_LOWER")});
+        MethodInvocation mi = MethodInvocationUtils.createFromClass(ITargetObject.class,
+                "makeLowerCase", new Class[] {String.class});
+        MethodSecurityInterceptor interceptor = makeSecurityInterceptor();
+
+        MethodInvocationPrivilegeEvaluator mipe = new MethodInvocationPrivilegeEvaluator();
+        mipe.setSecurityInterceptor(interceptor);
+        mipe.afterPropertiesSet();
+
+        assertTrue(mipe.isAllowed(mi, token));
+    }
+
+    public void testDeclinesAccess() throws Exception {
+        UsernamePasswordAuthenticationToken token = new UsernamePasswordAuthenticationToken("Test",
+                "Password",
+                new GrantedAuthority[] {new GrantedAuthorityImpl("ROLE_NOT_HELD")});
+        MethodInvocation mi = MethodInvocationUtils.createFromClass(ITargetObject.class,
+                "makeLowerCase", new Class[] {String.class});
+        MethodSecurityInterceptor interceptor = makeSecurityInterceptor();
+
+        MethodInvocationPrivilegeEvaluator mipe = new MethodInvocationPrivilegeEvaluator();
+        mipe.setSecurityInterceptor(interceptor);
+        mipe.afterPropertiesSet();
+
+        assertFalse(mipe.isAllowed(mi, token));
+    }
+
+    private MethodSecurityInterceptor makeSecurityInterceptor() {
+        ApplicationContext context = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext(
+                "org/acegisecurity/intercept/method/aopalliance/applicationContext.xml");
+
+        return (MethodSecurityInterceptor) context.getBean(
+            "securityInterceptor");
+    }
+}