Terry Lister's move to the Home Affairs Ministry means he is, officially at least, out of the line of fire in a long running legal dispute over the handling of a Human Rights Commission case.

Businessman Harold Darrell took his case to court when a racial discrimination complaint filed with the Human Rights Commission against the Bank of Bermuda was dismissed by the Commission. Mr. Darrell, CEO of the Hardell Group, claimed that the bank had used its influence to cause the Commission to dismiss the complaint without a hearing.

And the company also claimed that the Minister himself tampered with the case. In May, a consent order was signed binding the Commission to reopen and hear the case. But the matter got bogged down again as the company sought clarification from the Supreme Court as to what stage the case should be reopened.

Neville Darrell, who had been the executive director of the Human Rights Commission for just six months said in an affidavit that the Minister's behaviour and actions forced him to resign his position. And Corey Butterfield, a senior Hardell employee, lost his position as the Progressive Labour Party spokesman.

The Commission's officials have said only that the integrity of the institution is intact and attributes the debacle to a procedural "blip". Mr. Lister, who remained silent in the face of intense media scrutiny over the matter during the summer, maintained that stance when asked whether he was glad to be rid of the matter.

He told The Royal Gazette that he regrets the fact that Hardell's human rights complaint will be left for someone else to deal with.

"It's a regret from the point of view that it's a matter in Human Rights which was not completed," he said.

"The intent is to get them (human rights cases) dealt with efficiently and productively. I don't believe it's efficient by any stretch of the imagination" because of the extended litigation.

"It had procedural flaws" which should have been rectified within the Human Rights Commission, he said.

Randolph Horton will have to deal with the Hardell matter in his new role as Minister of Community Affairs and Sport, the Human Rights Commission now comes under his purview.