The Chief Justice lauded Bermuda's new Commercial Court as possibly the first such specialist court in any offshore financial centre in the world.

It was previously reported that Chief Justice Richard Ground had formed a Commercial Court on January 1.

"The legal framework for the Bermuda Commercial Court is modelled on the English Commercial Court, which is one of the best-respected specialist courts in the world," Mr. Justice Ground said in a Press release.

The Island's first Commercial judges will be Mr. Justice Ground, Supreme Court Justice Ian Kawaley and Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Bell.

Commercial lawyers had lobbied for years for the court system to be modernised to better serve international business.

"In 2004 Attorney General Larry Mussenden appointed a Justice Review Committee chaired by Mrs. Justice Norma Wade-Miller and Government pledged to support its recommendation on the establishment of a Commercial Court for Bermuda," Mr. Justice Ground said.

The idea of the new court was to streamline proceedings.

Pleadings must be as brief as possible, he said, and judges could give directions at any stage.

"The use of specialist judges is also designated to abbreviate the length of hearings and the time within which judgments are delivered," he said. "All commercial cases will now be filed in a special 'commercial list' and will ordinarily be heard at all stages by a designated 'Commercial Judge."

Any cases can be put on the commercial list, he said.