Attorney General Sen. Larry Mussenden's claim that the Opposition has politicised the issue of judicial reform is a diversionary tactic being used to deflect attention away from a Government which lacks the “political will” to instigate meaningful change.

This is according to Opposition MPs John Barritt and Trevor Moniz, who yesterday struck back in the ongoing war of words between the two political parties over the planned reforms to the justice system recommended by the Judicial Review Committee in April, 2004.

Sen. Mussenden accused the Opposition on Sunday of “playing politics with justice system” by insisting it was in a state of “crisis”, while other than the collapse of a number of high profile cases in recent times, his assessment of the justice system was generally upbeat.

He further chastised the two UBP stalwarts for criticising both the make-up of the Review Committee and the scope of the final report - arguing that the committee's representation “could not have been broader” and the 42 “excellent” recommendations would serve as a “blueprint” for judicial reform in the future.

But both Mr. Barritt and Mr. Moniz were unrepentant, arguing it was easy for people to accuse them of politicising issues when they were merely fulfilling their duty as members of the Opposition by analysing Government's every move.

In fact, they both pointed out, Sen. Mussenden had failed to fulfil his promise made at Press conference last July that he would report back to the House by Christmas, 2004 on the progress of the recommendations and it was only because of a motion brought by Mr. Moniz himself on Friday night in the House of Assembly that the report was debated at all.

They also reiterated the sentiments expressed in the House by commending the report “as far as it goes”.

But the committee spent so much time, they suggested, trying to erase the back log of cases in the Supreme Court, that they failed to tackle the need for radical reform, particularly to the criminal justice system.

Proposed changes missing from the report, they argued, include giving the Crown the same right of appeal as the defence, greatly expanded jury pools so that nobody is exempt from service, the option of being tried in the Supreme Court by judge alone to negate growing witness and juror intimidation and more profound witness protection initiatives.

Tougher sanctions for witnesses who refuse to testify in trials is another avenue which Government has not adequately explored, they said.

“Much of what was included in the committee's report was fairly straightforward and made obvious good sense and I do not wish to thwart that,” Mr. Barritt said.

“And I take strong exception to being accused of politicisation when I am simply doing my job. But as Mr. Moniz said, most of the recommendations are to do with management and administration which, while important, certainly do not go to the root of the problems.

So for the Government to say they are using the report as a ‘blueprint' is worrying.

“What's needed is radical surgery and for Government to get tough in the face of mounting problems.”

Mr. Moniz buttressed these sentiments by pointing to the letter of committee chairman Justice Norma Wade-Miller included in the final report, which appeared to concede that the committee had looked primarily at ways of “ameliorating pressures upon” the justice system rather than fundamentally revamping it.

“I'm sensitive to the fact that they were pressed for time and their terms of reference were somewhat narrow,” he said.

“But even so it was not a balanced committee and a more balanced one may well have pushed the boundaries slightly in terms of their findings. But the real question is whether Government is prepared to do what needs to be done.

“The rise of violent crime is a serious problem and the sense everyone is getting at the moment is that this Government lacks the political will to tackle it. Our conviction rate is only around 40 percent while in some European jurisdictions its up nearer 80 or 90 percent.

“And while high-profile cases collapse and murders remain unsolved, it doesn't seem to bother the Attorney General who is pretending that we are not in a crisis.”