Bermudians Against the Draft yesterday urged Attorney General Kim Wilson to throw her weight behind their call for a board of inquiry into the Court of Appeal.BAD spokesman Larry Marshall charged in a letter to Ms Wilson that the Court of Appeal’s declaration that it was not required under law to provide transcripts to people wishing to appeal its rulings was incorrect.Mr Marshall, whose group was refused a transcript earlier this year, claimed that the law had always required the Court to record proceedings and provide transcripts, and it was only in recent years that the Court had started refusing to do so.President of the Court of Appeal Edward Zacca announced on Tuesday that the court would begin issuing transcripts, something BAD says should have already been in place.Mr Marshall cited four Acts to support his case, adding: “This is unacceptable as this denial violated the constitutional rights of the young men who are entitled to transcripts according to the laws of this land.“For these essential documents to be denied cannot be right when considering what the respective Acts state.“The first three Acts show that the Court of Appeal is indeed a “superior court of record” and therefore should be conducted as such.“It is required by law to meet that criteria which means providing the “record” in the event of appeal to a higher court. That is the Privy Council or, if necessary, the European Court of Human Rights. These Acts clearly mandate that transcripts are to be produced. It is not at the discretion of the President of the Court of Appeal or anyone for that matter.“And contrary to what was suggested earlier about making of transcripts available is in no way a “new initiative.” This legal requirement has been met for decades both before and during Mr Zacca’s time as president.”The issue came to the fore most recently in September when one litigant wanted to obtain the record of his Court of Appeal hearing last year. A land dispute had brought Robert Moulder to the Court of Appeal, and he had then wanted to appeal to the Privy Council in London. To help him achieve this, he attempted to obtain the records of the proceedings of his case. He could not get the copies he needed, and so started an online petition to push for them to be made available.Other who have been unable to get audio recordings or transcripts from hearings they were involved in at the Court of Appeal include former civil servant LeYoni Junos, businessman Dilton Robinson as well a member of BAD.Calling for a board of inquiry, Mr Marshall believes that board would be ideally suited to tend to matters such as this.“Now if this were the only occasion then perhaps a board of inquiry might not be needed. However, I believe everyone is well aware of several others who have had similar problems with this same court regarding transcripts as well as conduct. Collectively they have an abundance of information and documents which, along with what I’ve written here, show that there is indeed sufficient reason to open up a board of inquiry to look into these most serious allegations.“Failure to do so puts Bermuda in a precarious position seeing that a precedent is set which allows the President of the Court of Appeal to determine whether or not transcripts are made. This means that Mr Zacca’s successor could think otherwise and we are then back to square one.”