The two-year-old system of identifying legislators' potential conflicts of interest is due to be reviewed.

And Opposition MP Trevor Moniz, who fought a six year battle to establish it, says it's now time to make the Register of Interests more accessible to the public, enshrine it in the Constitution and hand its supervision over to the Ombudsman when that post finally comes into being.

Once the House of Assembly resumes on October 31, a new parliamentary committee to oversee the register will review the system which requires MPs and Senators to fill in a questionnaire designed to solicit information about their private financial interests.

Mr. Moniz, who was appointed the first chairman of a joint select committee on Members' Interests, is hoping that the committee will improve access to the register.

“In my view it should be more open to the public,” said Mr. Moniz.

“At the present time you have to make an appointment and it is kept under lock and key by the clerk. I don't think we need that kind of security.

“(Another) point is there should be some parliamentary oversight. The new Ombudsman should have oversight responsibility of the register.”

House rules already prohibited legislators from voting on matters in which they had a direct financial interest before the register was created in 2001, but the system relied on Members policing themselves.

Most MPs have been complying with the new rules, says Mr. Moniz. “At the time we did it, everyone thought it would be earth shattering - it wasn't earth shattering, it was just progress.”

But the system doesn't work well when someone decides, as then ruling party MP El James did, to rebel against it.

Mr. James was the only MP to deliberately buck the requirement and suffered no penalty for his action.

“I guess we wanted people to voluntarily co-operate. The idea initially was to make it as friendly as possible to get people to volunteer and co-operate, not to persecute people.” Mr. Moniz said.

“I've had cause to communicate with certain members of the House and in some cases they have brought their entry up to speed.”

But legislators disciplining their colleagues can be vulnerable to party politics, he warned.

“A person can be condemned in the House and be suspended. Of course that is political, a party is not likely to punish one of their own. That's why independent oversight is so important.”

Parliament is expected to finalise arrangements for the Ombudsman this coming session. The post was provided for in the last wave of reforms to Bermuda's Constitution which were aimed primarily at improving the electoral system.

The Ombudsman - who will be independently appointed and, like the Auditor General, report to the Governor - will act as a citizens' advocate when Government departments perform poorly.