A top British barrister has launched a stinging attack on Bermuda?s ?Third World? courts.

Courtenay Griffiths QC ? who represented Kenneth Burgess in the recent Cooper twins? murder trial ? said an urgent injection of cash was needed to improve security and haul the Island?s courtrooms into the 21st Century.

?Bermuda is not a Third World country,? said the experienced criminal defence lawyer, who made his name in high-profile UK cases like the Brighton and Harrods bombings and the Damilola Taylor murder.

?This is a wealthy society and I fail to see why this Government can?t provide better court facilities, not just for lawyers, but also for the public, jury members, judges and witnesses.?

Mr. Griffiths experienced four weeks in the Island?s flagship Supreme Court during the trial of Burgess and Dennis Robinson. Both were found guilty of murdering Jahmil and Jahmal Cooper.

But during a wide-ranging interview with before he left the Island, the barrister said the current court facilities left a lot to be desired ? and said a planned modernisation programme was long overdue.

Defendants currently walk through the public gallery to get to the dock, creating security concerns particularly in tense, high-profile trials like the Cooper twins? murder.

And he said there was no separate witness waiting area in the main court, leaving witnesses to use the same toilets as jury members and lawyers.

He said if he wanted to speak at length with his client there were no designated interview room, so he had to meet in the defendant?s cell.

Internet access also needed to be made available in the courtroom so lawyers and judges could quickly check rulings, rather than rely on outdated law books.

His outspoken comments also come after the doors at the Supreme Court were closed when the verdict was read at last week?s double murder trial.

Questions were raised about the ability of Bermuda courts to handle large numbers after queues developed outside the building, as members of the public underwent security checks.

The QC continued: ?Given some of the commercial work being done in the courts here, I think it?s quite appalling that nothing has been done to update the court facilities. They are just not good enough.

?Supreme Court One here is very picturesque but it is just not well suited to modern times. Defendants have to walk through the public gallery to get to the dock and security within the court is virtually non-existent.?

Mr. Griffiths admitted he was impressed with the quality of Bermudian lawyers he encountered during his time on the Island.

But he called for some parts of the criminal justice system, unique to Bermuda and not seen in the UK, to be overhauled. ?Certain aspects of it smack of the 19th Century,? he continued.

He questioned the fairness of the rule that if a defence team calls evidence during a trial, it loses the right to address the jury last.

During the Cooper twins? murder case, Burgess? defence team introduced controversial phone records as evidence in the trial ? and were forced to address the jury first, before the prosecution gave its final speech.

And the barrister also asked why, with the burden on the Crown having to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, why prosecutors in Bermuda sit closest to the jury. Defence lawyers are nearest to the jury in UK trials.

The leading criminal lawyer believes Bermudian lawyers who train in England and then return home and start practising immediately should spend at least six months in the UK, getting ?exposed? to its legal regime.

?The legal community here is so small and does not have the variety and range of experience that people can learn from,? said the London-based barrister, who spends the bulk of his time in the Old Bailey. ?The system here would really benefit from this exposure abroad.? recently reported how Government plans to move all of Bermuda?s courts into the new Police station on Court Street, as it seeks to rationalise space in crowded and pricey Hamilton.

The knock-on effect could see the Senate chamber move up the hill into the same building as the House of Assembly.

The original plan had been for Magistrates? courts to share the new Hamilton Police HQ on Court Street, a two-year project due to start in May.

But Works and Engineering and Housing Minister David Burch said he had added five new Supreme Court buildings, which are also long overdue for replacement.