A SHIFT in Government spending could easily accommodate recent demands by lawyers to increase legal aid rates, a lawyer and psychologist maintained yesterday.

The question, believes Ann Dell Duncan, is whether Government is interested in reaching a balance that will provide for all.

"The answer is complex," she said. "The money is there as evidenced by statements of expenditure. It's a statement of cultural priority. If the Government wants to spend 'X' amount of dollars bringing in consultants versus spending money on people charged with crimes, it's a statement of the values of that country."

A group of eight or so of the island's leading criminal defence lawyers are boycotting legal aid cases, demanding that Government jack up fees from the present $100 an hour - established in 1989 - to $300. The new fee is thought to be close to what criminal defence lawyers get in private practice.

Lawyer Mark Pettingill said the group had received the backing of the Bermuda Bar Association, now preparing to make recommendations to Government on their behalf.

"People are entitled to the best representation they can get," Mr. Pettingill was quoted as saying in The Royal Gazette. ". . . you can't have people convicted because they don't have proper and full representation.

"Now people can't be properly represented. We are saying because of the fee structure, we have staff to pay and we have expenses and research costs, and we are not paying our staff any less (than those in private practice.)"

With the current laws in place, everyone was entitled to the same quality of representation, said Dr. Duncan. As such, the psychologist with Ashton Associates said it fell to Government to determine whether or not achieving that equity was a priority.

"In England, they used to have a paupers' court where they only treated poor people," she said. "But that was eliminated as a matter of law so that everyone is entitled to the same privileges, responsibilities and representation.

"Bermuda has to balance the needs of all of its citizens and to make a statement of priority as to whether people who don't have as much are penalised for the status by an uneven judicial distribution. (People have to determine if they) care that people charged for criminal offences get the best representation possible to meet the standards of the constituency?

"If that's true, there has to be a parity of financial investment otherwise we'd have a judicial system where only the rich or wealthy get quality representation. The legal profession is required, under its code of ethics, to provide pro bono work for the community.

"One could argue that the Bermuda Bar needs to reorganise the pro bono system, but I'm not sure you want an estate lawyer handling criminal cases."