The island’s global reputation for international business stands to get a boost out of stronger commercial courts bolstered by an extra judge, according to the now-retired Chief Justice, Narinder Hargun.

Mr Justice Hargun, who officially stepped down yesterday, also shared views on improving the independence of the Bermuda judiciary, and chances for the private sector to take the lead on developing an international arbitration centre.

After 5½ years as Chief Justice, Mr Justice Hargun, 69, is nearing the mandatory retirement age of 70 — and, after 45 years in full-time work, looking forward to a year of travel as well as time with his extended family.

“I took the view that Bermuda had been very generous to me in terms of opportunities over the last 40 years, and I always thought if there was an opportunity to do public service, I would do it,” he said.

“It just so happened that I was retiring from Conyers in 2018. This opportunity came, and I was encouraged to apply, and was lucky enough to be offered the position. I took it on that basis.”

After a tenure dominated by “heavy commercial cases”, Mr Justice Hargun voiced pride in the ability of the commercial courts to punch above their weight.

His term also came with major constitutional cases: the Corporation of Hamilton’s unsuccessful challenge to the Government’s takeover, and a landmark 2020 ruling on the island’s jury selection rules.

However Mr Justice Hargun highlighted the judiciary’s standing for a mainstay of the Bermudian economy: international business — where the onus is on the island to deal with cases swiftly and hand down judgements in good time.

“I know from experience in previous life that when you’re trying to sell Bermuda as an international jurisdiction, one of the competitive points the potential consumers look at are the credibility of the judiciary.”

He pointed to “friendly competitors” such as Cayman, with its financial services court.

Bermuda’s commercial court users’ committee, delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, met for the first time this year, bringing together commercial lawyers handling international business to flag up areas for improvement.

A similar committee is up and running in Cayman, he noted.

Going electronic and ditching paper-based filing took a step forward with the Government’s approval of a new case management system.

“The expectation would be to have something operational within the next 12 to 18 months,” Mr Justice Hargun said.

“Not only for the commercial court. We hope to do that for the other courts, including Magistrates’ Court.”

He gave the island high marks for keeping its civil and commercial courts running through a pandemic that hampered criminal cases, especially jury trials.

Bermuda’s pivot to technology meant taking on the sprawling case of Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire and former Prime Minister of Georgia, who successfully sued the Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse for half a billion dollars.

The ruling was handed down in March 2022, after the entire trial was conducted remotely from Mr Justice Hargun’s office at home for six weeks.

“In terms of international business, that would be a prime example of how well we can do cases in Bermuda,” he said.

“We had factual witnesses from Switzerland and Canada, and we have Mr Ivanishvili give evidence from Georgia, translated.

“We had expert law witnesses from Switzerland, Georgia, and of course teams of lawyers based in London, Bermuda and Georgia.

“It would be considered a major trial by any account, but it was all done by Zoom and finished on time in six weeks.”

Some of the island’s insolvency cases run into the billions. Mr Justice Hargun also cited the Jardine Matheson Group valuation as “a major, major case” conducted in Bermuda.

“Those are cases where the commercial court has to perform.

“If it doesn’t, the consumers of international business soon get to find out.”

Business heads seldom decide where to domicile, he added.

“It’s really the professional advisers, largely lawyers and accountants, who decide which jurisdiction to go to.

“Because they’re such sophisticated consumers, one of the things they’re seriously concerned about is the credibility and efficiency of the judiciary.”

Mr Justice Hargun said an easy way to invest in international business was through the commercial courts, where the Chief Justice and another judge have handled international cases on their own.

“It’s quite clear there is a need for a third judge to do the civil commercial work, and we are hoping that will be funded in the next budget year.

“In principle, we understand the Minister of Finance is prepared to do that. You need the resources, the manpower.”

Mr Justice Hargun said the island enjoyed “a very lively arbitration community”, and that the need for having a centre to handle cases had always been up for debate.

“I think it would be a vote of confidence if there was a physical arbitration centre, and it may well be that the Government does not have the funding to do it,” he said.

“There’s no reason why the private sector itself shouldn’t think about funding it.”

Mr Justice Hargun said Bermuda’s judiciary was “always a work in progress” with a constant struggle to retain staff.

“We have to make sure we improve our probates department; we accept that it takes far too long,” he said.

“It’s a lack of manpower, although it’s fair to say if something is really urgent, the department will go out of its way on an emergency basis.”

Because the private sector pays better wages, the judicial department has a far higher rate of turnover than a typical law firm.

When Mr Justice Hargun took up the job, vacancies neared 50 per cent of posts, which he said has “much improved”.

Even so, across five years, the Chief Justice said he was “now on my fourth executive assistant”.

“You can’t blame anybody; they go to the private sector where they are offered much more money. That is an issue which we have to deal with.”

He said many years of work lay ahead in progressing the institutional independence and administrative autonomy of the island’s judiciary.

“In most jurisdictions, the judiciary is a stand-alone branch of the Government. It hires its own people. It has its own procedure for promoting staff, and so on.”

At present, the island’s judiciary communicates with the executive branch of Government through the Attorney-General

“That’s a mechanism, which we have to work at, that no doubt my successor will be dealing with, and that’s going to be a work in progress for the next five, ten, 15 years. We hope it’s shorter than that.”

He added: “If you ask what’s the big issue for the next five to ten years, it’s achieving independence of the judiciary in a substantive way, meaning really looking after the department yourself, making sure there is proper funding and that the judiciary has administrative independence.”

Mr Justice Hargun, who arrived in Bermuda in 1979, said the island had afforded him “opportunities which probably would not have arisen in other places”.

“I’ve always believed that in those circumstances you should pay back if an opportunity arises.

“I was fortunate that the judicial and legal services committee and Governor Rankin offered me the position.

“It really has been an immense privilege and honour, and I have thoroughly enjoyed my work.”