BUSINESSMAN Harold Darrell has vowed to continue his human rights battle against the Bank of Bermuda ¿ despite having his case thrown out by a Supreme Court judge earlier this week.

And he has received further support in his quest for justice by a former head of the Human Rights Commission, who slammed this week's decision as "a sad day for Bermuda".

Mr. Darrell (pictured) filed a complaint with the HRC in October 2000, alleging that the bank deliberately scuttled business deals he was negotiating by passing on confidential information to third parties. But the case became bogged down in a quagmire of technical arguments over who the complaint was against ¿ the bank as a corporate entity or the individual members of the bank's board of directors.

In September 2005 a Board of Inquiry set up by then-Human Affairs Minister Randy Horton finally ruled that the complaint was against the bank's directors as individuals ¿ a ruling that went against the HRC's recommendation and Mr. Darrell's wishes.

Although Mr. Darrell appealed that ruling at the beginning of this year, on Monday it was rejected by Puisne Judge Norma Wade-Miller who said any appeal should have been filed within 28 days of the ruling.

However, yesterday Mr. Darrell pointed out that, when the Board of Inquiry reached its decision in September 2005, it gave Mr. Darrell a choice ¿ either appeal the ruling or hand the matter back to the HRC to see if it could get the terms of reference changed.

Mr. Darrell took the second option and claims he understood that the Commission would launch an appeal on his behalf ¿ and that the Commission was not operating under any time constraint.

But in August 2007 he received a letter from lawyers representing the HRC claiming it was unable to get the terms of reference changed and that the matter was now closed. Mr. Darrell claims it was only after the HRC dropped the case that he was forced to launch his own appeal ¿ a fact which he says was ignored by Justice Wade-Miller this week.

Confirming that he was not surprised by Monday's ruling, a defiant Mr. Darrell yesterday told the Mid-Ocean News: "We have now got seven days to appeal this decision and that's what we're going to do."

He added that he is hoping high-profile human rights advocate Cherie Booth ¿ wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair ¿ will once again take up his case.

"Basically, I did everything that I was supposed to do and at the end of the day the bank has never wanted to answer my allegations ¿ they have never once tried to deal with the issues. Instead, they've been trying to find a judge who could sign off on a technicality.

"We are now going to file an appeal and my lawyers will be in touch with Cherie Booth to get her back on the case and I am confident that we will win."

Mr. Darrell has repeatedly argued that he has been the victim of a conspiracy between Government, civil servants and the bank to have his complaint derailed.

And yesterday a former HRC officer backed that argument, claiming that human rights complaints procedures were riddled with political interference.

Former HRC chief executive officer David Wilson also condemned Monday's ruling, pointing out that time limits do not apply to human rights complaints.

Mr. Wilson, who left the HRC in 2006, said he was aware of the merits of Mr. Darrell's complaint ¿ and that the complaint should at least be heard.

And he added that the HRC should have appealed the Board of Inquiry's 2005 terms of reference ruling ¿ because the board failed to consult with the HRC before it made its decision. "This case has been dragging on for eight years now and Mr. Darrell still has not had his day in court ¿ as an advocate of human rights, this saddens me," he said.

"Mr. Darrell should never have been put in this position in the first place. The Board of Inquiry should be guided only by the HRC but it did not do so - it circumvented the Commission and usurped it.

"I am also dismayed by Monday's ruling. I'm troubled by the issue of a time limit because the Human Rights Act is silent on this ¿ it doesn't say that you have to move within a certain period of time.

"We have never had a case go on for as long as this and I know that there has been tremendous interference in it. Human Rights legislation should be kept at arm's length from interference but in Bermuda the HRC is being totally disrespected."

Last year Mr. Wilson said that, when employed by the Commission, his independence was repeatedly undermined by senior civil servants, including Department of Human Affairs Director Brenda Dale and Acting Director Myra Virgil.

Mr. Wilson said Mrs. Dale ordered him not to attend a Board of Inquiry meeting where the terms of reference for Mr. Darrell's case were laid out. Had he attended that meeting, he said, any confusion over the terms of reference would have been settled.