A low technology court reporting system rather than a "Rolls Royce'' would better serve Bermuda, the world's leading expert has claimed.

Chief executive officer of Smith Bernal International, Graham Smith, said the Island should not go for the "overkill'' of instantaneous court reports as can be found in Bermuda Fire and Marine Supreme Court civil case.

"Our view is that Bermuda does not need that type of Rolls Royce system for every case in these courts,'' Mr. Smith told The Royal Gazette . "It needs a basic form of recording with a transcription service.

"What's in the Bermuda Fire and will be in the Thyssen-Bournemisza case is overkill.'' Mr. Smith should know. A former reporter, he started Smith Bernal in the mid 1980s and has seen it grow to dominate the worldwide electronic court reporting market.

His companies, Smith Bernal and LiveNote, have provided court reporting for such high profile cases as the O.J. Simpson trial in the US, and the BCCI trial in the UK.

Smith Bernal provides 90 percent of the electronic court reporting worldwide, and has a lock on the US market in conjunction with American partners.

In the Bermuda Fire and Marine trial, in Supreme Court 4 in Booth Memorial Hall on Court Street, lawyers get to read what was said in court moments before.

Not only can they read it, their colleagues and expert witnesses around the world could read it over the Internet and make notes and index the testimony.

Mr. Smith said a purpose built dual tape, multi-track recording system and a log operator would suffice for most cases.

"I totally agree with Bermuda's approach,'' he said. "It should have audio recording whether its digital or audio.'' Mr. Smith added: "However, a digital system would not be cost effective right now. In a few years it will be dirt cheap and efficient.'' Pointing out a now unused recording system bought and installed during the 1996 Arnold Todd, Sr. criminal trial, Mr. Smith said: "This is precisely what is needed. Just add someone to log in what was said.

"I'm not convinced they should go the whole way,'' he said. "One, analog recording technology which is used in a number of UK courts is perfectly adequate and available at a fraction of the cost.'' "Two, like all new technologies, digital recording is still fairly new. It's not unstable, but it has certain quirks.

"There is no need for Bermuda to be a pioneer in this,'' Mr. Smith concluded.

"Use analog as a starting point and get digital when the cost comes down.'' And he promised work for Bermudians along with the training required to use the equipment.

"One of the things we said four years ago is that we could provide the training for Bermudians. It's not cost effective to send people from the UK.'' But training stenographers would take up to four years and by then automatic voice transcription should be bulletproof.

Development and Opportunity Minister Terry Lister has earmarked $350,000 and tasked a committee to look into the court recording system.

Mr. Lister said: "I want this committee to go out and consider the entire proposal process and we will go from there.'' He said he would not dictate to the committee what recommendations it should make.

Jury directions: Graham Smith