returned here this week seeking progress in complaints he has filed against two lawyers who represent the liquidators of his failed Focus Group of insurance companies.

The British national has claimed in complaints filed with the Bermuda Bar Council that the Bermuda lawyers have acted against the lawyers code of ethics. See Page 2 story.

Mr. Mark Hardy, a former Chartered Accountant who was struck off the register last year, is also asking that the entire law firm of Mello, Hollis, Jones and Martin be disciplined for aiding, abetting, counselling and procuring, and/or failing to prevent breaches of these laws.

He flew in from England to check on the status of his formal complaint, fired off from London on May 24, Bermuda Day.

Mr. Hardy, just days before the holiday, went head to head with the same lawyers Mr. Saul Froomkin and Mr. Andrew Martin, who spearheaded the liquidators' attempts to have him declared in contempt of court.

It was arising out of their appearance on behalf of the liquidators that Mr.

Hardy claims that the two lawyers contravened the Barristers Code of Professional Conduct.

Specifically, Mr. Hardy is claiming that the lawyers brought criminal or quasi-criminal proceedings in order to secure some advantage for a client in civil proceedings, behaviour prohibited by the Code.

The lawyers represent litigants who are locked in a long-running legal battle with Mr. Hardy.

And during their last legal encounter, Mr. Hardy asserted that had his opponents been successful, he could have faced imprisonment which would have made it impossible for him to mount an effective case.

Mr. Hardy has been representing himself, after proceedings in England last year that declared him bankrupt. He contends that the lawyers also knew they should not have accepted instructions from the Focus liquidators in the last court battle in May because they had reason to believe that they were potential witnesses in the case.

Mr. Hardy faced allegations of contempt of court and accusations that he had "scandalised the court'' after a letter writing campaign he admitted he waged, in which he included a scathing attack on the legal system in Bermuda and the former Chief Justice, Sir James Astwood.

The letters were not just sent to Bermuda residents, but in fact were circulated far and wide. Mr. Hardy has subsequently apologised for the letters and indicated that he had intended to commit no offence.

Mr. Hardy has pursued his complaint to the Bar Council by his own admission because he said he believes that Mr. Froomkin and Mr. Martin were too close to the case and knew too much about the background.

He also argues in incorporating his original complaint with the more recent one, that the behaviour of the two lawyers was inappropriate during a May 13 hearing.

Mr. Martin when contacted for comment said there was little he was allowed to discuss in the case.

"Under the Bermuda Bar Act,'' he said, " I'm put in a difficult position because any response I make would put it in the public domain. I am not allowed to do that.

"It is true that in open court Mr. Hardy did make a number of fairly wild allegations and he is free to pursue whatever he wishes to pursue. But there is little that I'm permitted to say.'' Mr. Froomkin was off the island this week and unavailable for comment.

Mr. Mark Hardy.