Concern was raised last night that Bermuda's courts will suffer a severe backlog of cases unless Government agrees to hire additional Supreme Court judges.

Bermuda Bar President Richard Hector said if the shortage of judges was allowed to continue, the system would fail and justice would be denied.

The attorney said he was urged by his worried members to contact Chief Justice Austin Ward to find out if and when extra judges would be put in place.

But he said the decision to hire judges could only come from Government and the Progressive Labour Party had showed no signs of action.

Mr. Hector, one of Bermuda's most renowned barristers, spoke out after The Royal Gazette reported on Monday how the Chief Justice was being forced to look after the courts alone this week due to a lack of staff.

Two Puisne Judges have been on holiday, and two others on temporary contracts have come to the end of their secondments and returned to their posts.

That has left just Mr. Ward and Puisne Judge Denis Mitchell, who has been out of the picture for months sitting in the long-running Thyssen case.

As a result, Mr. Ward was on his own and had to ask barrister David Kessaram to help out in the courts this week.

Mr. Hector said: "I am very worried and I am certainly not alone.

"I have been busting my gut to find out why we can't have the judges to do the work that we have in Bermuda.

"At the moment there is one judge. There are matters that we consider urgent, like an application for an injunction, for example, and there is nobody to do it because the Chief Justice can only be in one place at a time.

"This is crucial. It means cases are being delayed, and I believe justice delayed is justice denied.

"The Government is the one who has to provide the funds and this is something that is just not being given the importance that it deserves.'' Mr. Hector said both Puisne Judges Charles-Etta Simmons and Philip Storr should have had their temporary contracts made permanent, or been replaced.

They were brought in during July of last year because two of the three permanent Puisne Judges were going to be tied up for several months with two major international cases, Thyssen and Bermuda Fire and Marine Insurance Co Ltd.

Continued on page 2 Worries over the lack of Supreme Court judges However, Thyssen is still on-going.

"The point is, there is still enough work for these two judges,'' added Mr.

Hector.

"In my view, there was enough work for these two judges to be kept on. We have the work for them to do.

"Cases are being delayed unnecessarily and sufficiently enough to cause concern.

"People are being remanded in custody for longer periods. Some of them go to court and then are found not guilty. It is wrong that people are spending longer than they should be waiting to come to trial.

"It is injustice to delay any trial or proceedings, unless there is good reason. The Government has to provide funding.'' Puisne Judges Vincent Meerabux and Norma Wade-Miller have been on vacation this week. One returned yesterday, the other is not expected back until October 16.

Mr. Ward told The Royal Gazette that he had been in discussion with Government over the need for additional judges, but had been unsuccessful.

He accepted there had been a shortfall this week, but said he would cope.

Talking about spending the week in the courts on his own, he said: "There will be problems in that we have more work than we have judges, but we will manage. The courts certainly will not close.

"Government has its own priorities and it's not for me to tell Government how its money should be spent.

"Supreme Court is not one of them (the priorities).'' When The Royal Gazette contacted Attorney General Dame Lois Browne-Evans last Sunday she said she had been off the Island and was unfamiliar with the issue, but said she would investigate it.

Yesterday she failed to return calls to the newspaper.