Long delays for trial dates, sudden adjournments and lack of co-operation between lawyers should all be coming to an end after Chief Justice Richard Ground cracked down on Bermuda?s legal community yesterday.

In a press statement released last night, Justice Ground announced a number of directions which he said were intended to address the problem of ?a large number of ineffective trial fixtures?.

Topping the list were trial dates, which have been too fluid.

?A fixture (trial date) should be regarded as just that,? he said. ?A Supreme Court fixture will take precedence over everything else, including civil fixtures, and the personal or business commitments of the counsel or the defendant.

?No application for an adjournment will be entertained on the trial date, unless it is due to some reason wholly unforeseeable before then, such as sudden illness.?

That direction included attempts to get a case withdrawn because a defendant had not paid their legal fees. ?Counsel should ensure their fee arrangements are in place in good time,? the release said. ?Counsel will not be allowed to withdraw on the day of trial ... Nor should defendants be able to seek an adjournment by failing to put their counsel in funds. (A) defendant seeking an adjournment on the grounds of inability to pay will have to demonstrate that he has taken all reasonable steps to put his counsel in funds or obtain legal aid.?

And cases will not be adjourned for the convenience of overseas counsel, he said.

?In the case of overseas counsel becoming unavailable close to the date, another should be substituted. Save in an emergency, however, the application to admit overseas counsel should be made far enough in advance to allow for proper consideration by the Court, the Department of Immigration, and by the Bar Council.?

The same principles will apply to warned dates. ?If a fixture has to be adjourned at the last minute, and there are warned cases for that date, the jury should be released for only as long as is necessary to bring on the warned case.?

Warned cases should also be ready to go ahead in cases where a defendant has not appeared for trial. In that case, juries will be stood over for one day while every effort is made to locate the defendant. If the defendant is not found, the warned cases will go ahead.

Lawyers were also warned to return each other?s calls and answer correspondence promptly. ?Successful listing is a co-operative venture. The aim is to get the matter tried as soon as practicable.?