Legal aid money paid to lawyers doubled from $700,000 to $1.4 million in the last current year due to a hike in fees, Deputy Premier Ewart Brown said yesterday.

Speaking in the Budget debate on the Justice Department, Dr. Brown said the courts collected $5,398,000 in the past fiscal year ? $4,900,000 from traffic and parking offences, $198,000 from court fees, and $300,000 for liquor licences.

A review of the legal system has just been announced to be chaired by Puisne Judge Norma Wade-Miller, which will report by the end of this month.

?The Attorney General is confident that the distinguished membership of the review committee will result in a timely and productive report that will pave the way for a quality justice system for all Bermudians and those who do business in Bermuda,? said Dr. Brown.

Bermuda has a problem retaining quality senior attorneys because there is such a small pool of Bermudian lawyers, he said. This was exacerbated by the high wages paid in the private sector.

A high emphasis is being placed on training to recruit and retain competent and qualified Bermudians.

An information technology officer will be hired in the coming year to review technology systems and liase with the implementation of the new Prosecution of Offences Act.

Staff will continue to get training, including in the use of electronic court reporting.

The Judiciary will continue to review the information technology system with a view to replacing the current information system, said Dr. Brown. And there will be revamp of the filing system in the civil section of Magistrates? Court.

Funds for the Attorney General?s Chambers have been slashed by $846,000, or 23 percent, to $2,843,000, but the department is to get an extra two crown counsel and two parliamentary counsel.

The number of legal opinions prepared had jumped from 750 in 1998 to 1,000 in 2003. And since 1998, the number of cases brought against the Government had doubled from 1998 to 42.

In addition, the average years of experience of Crown counsel had fallen from 20 in 1998 to 12 years in 2003.

A review will continue of the Serious Crimes Commission to see if any further legislation is needed, said Dr. Brown.

The Department of Public Prosecutions gets a 33 percent increase in the coming fiscal year, taking spending to $1,914,232. Three new Crown counsel are to be appointed.

Last year in Magistrates? Court, Crown lawyers handled 1,197 criminal cases, winning 1,012. There were 11,504 traffic cases resulting in 9,967 convictions. At Supreme Court, there were 87 indictments and 42 were disposed or completed.

In the coming year, members of the DPP will conduct monthly media interviews to educate the public on the work of the department and there will be an annual crown counsel conference to keep up with international trends.

Shadow Attorney General Trevor Moniz said it was a pity the politically appointed Attorney General, Senator Larry Mussenden, was not a member of the House of Assembly to answer the questions about his department.

Mr. Moniz raised concerns about how many Crown lawyers will be attending seminars overseas and the cost to the taxpayer.

Justin Williams was announced this week as an acting Assistant Justice, and Mr. Moniz said he was worried about the number of temporary appointments. If an acting judge?s term ended in the middle of a case, it could have to be started again.

The PLP had promised when it was elected in 1998 to build new courts and they had still not broken ground.

Mr. Moniz said an annual report was needed on the operations of the Justice Department to see how it was performing.

He said it was strange that AG Larry Mussenden had ordered a review of the justice system just months before new Chief Justice Richard Ground takes over.

And he questioned the composition of the committee, noting there is no representation for magistrates.

Opposition House leader John Barritt in addition to the embarrassment over members of the DPP?s staff not paying their parking tickets, an Inspector of Police report drew attention to discussions with the DPP?s office about drink driving prosecutions being dropped because of problems with the testing equipment.

?Does this mean it (use of the equipment) is not in the schedule so the evidence cannot be entered?? he said. ?Tell me it isn?t so. Why don?t we have that kind of legislation here correcting it?

?What kind of problems do we we have, systemic or personnel, that we can?t address these simple problems and turn them around? It beggars belief.?

The Bermuda Government?s response, according to the Police report, was to ?encourage? the parties to address it without delay.

?It reads to me that they (Government) are saying it is not my problem. Unbelievable.?

Mr. Barritt suggested setting up a public defenders? office and questioned why the DPP?s office didn?t give lawyers in private practice the chance to prosecute some criminal cases.

Shadow Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Maxwell Burgess said the DPP?s decision not to prosecute anyone over the death of inmate Steven (Pepe) Dill led to a loss of confidence in the system.

?Another one bites the dust is the feeling,? he said.

And he cited the battle of the Hardell group with Government over its alleged contract was another example of Government messing the people about. ?If people don?t believe justice exists at our level, don?t expect them (to respect the law),? he said. ?Play people in this country no more. People need to see that justice is being done.?

Responding, Dr. Brown said Hardell was told by the AG?s Chambers that it was entitled to a process to determine if it had a licence, not that it had a licence.