The Supreme Court will today determine whether lawyer Julian Hall is free to in Bermuda following an eight-and-a-half-year ban.

A positive ruling for the former Progressive Labour Party MP could see him relocate to the island permanently, and possibly return to politics.

Mr. Hall was barred from practice on January 26, 2000, after the courts declared him bankrupt. The Order also prohibited him from being able to serve in Parliament or the Senate.

This morning's hearing could lead to an absolute or conditional discharge of that Order.

Sources say the hearing ¿ a Section 32 Application ¿ should have been held earlier as, under the current law, such applications are required to be made within 12 months after the fifth anniversary of a bankruptcy order.

"It is not yet clear why the making of the application has been delayed until now," said a lawyer familiar with the case.

"According to the Act, the application can result in an order discharging the bankruptcy either absolutely or conditionally. Should that happen, it is expected to pave the way towards the return of Mr. Hall to active practice in the Bermuda Courts as a Bermudian barrister and attorney duly licensed under the Bermuda Bar Act 1974.

"Mr. Hall has often said that he has no desire to resume living in Bermuda on a regular basis until his right to practise in his country and in his chosen profession has been returned to him."

Lawyers working on behalf of the estate of Betty McMahon of Paget applied for the Bankruptcy Order and launched criminal proceedings against Mr. Hall, alleging he stole half a million dollars from Mrs. McMahon, who was mentally ill.

A jury unanimously acquitted Mr. Hall of the charges but the Order remained in place.

"The amendment to the Bermuda Bar Act prohibiting bankrupt barristers from appearing in court was dubbed by the late Opposition Leader L. Frederick Wade 'The Julian Hall Bill', as Mr. Hall was put into bankruptcy, several years ago, by the Bank of Butterfield for some months after he defected to the PLP from the (then-governing) United Bermuda Party, for whom he served as deputy chairman for two years prior to 1980," another legal source stated.

"(Mr. Hall) has, over the past few years, been known to make frequent visits to the island, particularly in connection with the longstanding Berkeley dispute."

The source added that he, and several other lawyers "have long wondered why the PLP, which after all came to power in 1998, did not stick to principle and abolish that vicious legislation (preventing bankrupt lawyers from practising)".