Attorneys and fellow Justices yesterday paid tribute in the Court of Appeal to retiring Justice Sir Derek Cons.

Sir Derek is retiring after eight years on Bermuda's Court of Appeal.

Several of the attorneys who paid tribute yesterday noted, however, that they had also had the pleasure of appearing before Sir Derek during his time with the Hong Kong Court of Appeal.

Court of Appeal president Sir James Astwood said he found Sir Derek to be "quietly efficient and exceedingly intelligent."

"We had a happy bench over my period as president," Sir James said. "We are ending a happy time, not only in the public arena, but also socially.... We will miss him here because he is a very able man."

Attorney Saul Froomkin thanked Sir Derek on behalf of his firm Mello Jones & Martin and praised him for resisting the more lucrative private sector and dedicating his professional life to public service.

Representatives from the Attorney General's chambers as well as the firms Conyers Dill & Pearman and Attride-Stirling & Woloniecki also paid tribute to Sir Derek yesterday. The Bermuda Bar Association presented him with a retirement gift of appreciation.

"I always thought it a privilege to be allowed to sit on this court," Sir Derek told those gathered in Supreme Court 2.

He added he had benefited greatly from the experience and local knowledge of Sir James as Court President and praised the "cheerful and hard-working court staff" and the third man on the bench Justice Philip Clough.

"I shall miss Bermuda and watch with great interest from afar to see how it approaches its problems in the future," he added.