Lawyers have welcomed plans for a new Immigration appeals board but they say it will only be a success if board members aren’t politically biased.Those in the legal profession are in favour of plans to make the Immigration appeals process more “independent and impartial”.Lawyers say the proposed change will better meet the needs of those unhappy with Government decisions on work permit refusals and revocations of Bermuda status.But they believe the new system will only work if board members are “carefully selected” to ensure they don’t have any obvious political preferences.National Security Minister Wayne Perinchief announced this week his proposals for a statutory appeals body chaired by a lawyer and made up of nine to 14 people with “a law background or knowledge of Immigration issues”.He said appeals needed to “be independent of the Executive” as they were currently heard by Government Ministers.Lawyer Trevor Moniz, who works for Moniz & George, said it’s been known for many years that the system needed to be reviewed.He said: “It’s clearly not been right for a long time. It was always a very questionable practice.“It’s appealing against a Cabinet Minister to Cabinet, it just doesn’t make sense.”Mr Moniz, who is Shadow Attorney General and Justice Minister, said although he agreed with the new Immigration appeals board in principle, the “real issue” was who would be selected to sit on the appeals panel.He said: “Will it be a success? It really depends on who you put on the appeals board.“I wouldn’t want to see any political people selected. There is a habit of doing just that on these boards which are meant to be independent, and it’s very bad practice.“It will only be fair if the board represents a cross-section of Bermuda.”Mr Moniz said in 30 years he had only had two successes at immigration tribunals. Therefore if a client goes to him unhappy with an Immigration decision, he tends to ask the Minister to reconsider before opting for a tribunal.The OBA MP also said he would be interested in hearing the details of the Supreme Court judgment that ruled “greater independence of the tribunal is required”.At a press conference earlier this week Mr Perinchief said the court had found that the Cabinet Appeal Tribunal, comprised Ministers of the Government, did not comply with the Constitution. But Mr Perinchief did not go into any further details.Ed Bailey, who runs his own law firm, said he 100 percent supported a re-think of the Immigration appeal process.He said: “Anything that enhances the process can only improve the situation for residents.“But to be impartial the appeals board cannot become a political body.“Board members will have to be carefully selected to ensure they serve in the right way without any political bias.“If this is indeed an independent board, it will decentralise the process and give it a more democratic concept. It’s an excellent idea”.Graveney Bannister, who works for Milligan-Whyte Associates, said he was pleased with plans to amend the process, calling it “a step in the right direction”.He said: “Justice has to be seen to be done with a fair process.“The process has to be independent and transparent. A new appeals process won’t be a bad thing at all.“The right and fair process has to be adopted.”Mr Bannister said “issues had arisen” over the years about the appeals process being “shrouded in secrecy”.He said he hoped the new system “makes things more transparent” and also speeds up the process. He said some people faced three to six-month time delays.Mr Bannister added: “There are a number of people who have been called to the Bar who would be willing to help.”The proposed change will go before the House of Assembly under the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Amendment Act 2011. The law was tabled in the House of Assembly last week.