and senior members of his force were very worried about the under-staffing in the Department of Prosecutions (DPP).

And he has been backed by former Attorney General Saul Froomkin, who claimed Government needs to pay its barristers more to attract experienced attorneys to its under-staffed department.

During his first day of testimony at the Commission of Inquiry into serious crimes yesterday Mr. Lemay revealed: "Recently there were real concerns as to the availability of experienced prosecutors ..... after a number of resignations.

"There have been occasions in the past where some Crown counsels have not conducted a thorough review as we would have liked.'' Mr. Froomkin also said he had serious concerns about the lack of knowledge and experience within the DPP's office.

He said he appreciated the problems encountered by the DPP's new director Khamisi Tokunbo, who has lost five members of staff, including four very experienced prosecutors, since February this year.

"I have sympathy with Mr. Tokunbo because his Chambers seem to lack senior prosecutors,'' said Mr. Froomkin, who was the inquiry's first witness.

"Part of the problem may be that in most jurisdictions the renumerations for senior counsel are such that Government can't attract them.

"We have the same problem with our judges.

"I am seriously concerned. If a major commercial fraud case, for example, broke out in Bermuda, I am unaware of anyone in the Chambers that could handle it.'' Mr. Froomkin, who was Attorney General (AG) between 1981 and 1991, and Mr.

Lemay echoed concerns reported in The Royal Gazette about the lack of experienced prosecutors on the Island.

Mr. Tokunbo has claimed there is no crisis, but other members of the legal profession and Police fear defence barristers, and ultimately criminals, are being given the upper hand.

The director is currently hunting overseas to replace the Principal and Senior Crown positions in his department but aims to eventually have Bermudians in all the top posts.

Mr. Froomkin said that while he held the post of AG he too failed to attract Islanders to the prime posts.

He added: "I was not successful in attracting Bermudians, and again, rightly or wrongly, I blame it on the fact that Government does not renumerate professionals anywhere near what they have to. Bermudians can do so much better in private industry.'' He said Government needed to invest more heavily in training members of staff in all aspects of the legal field by sending them overseas, and said where possible better equipment should be provided.

Barrister and Shadow Legislative Affairs Minister John Barritt has been very vocal about his concern over the lack of experience in the DPP's office.

He, too, has called for Government to increase the pay scale for prosecutors, and he also raised Parliamentary Questions in the House of Assembly in a bid to find out what was being done to fill the vacant posts.

The exodus from the DPP's office began in February when Leighton Rochester transferred to civil law in the AG's Chambers.

In March, Principal Crown counsel Peter Eccles left, followed by Veronica Daley, Sandra Bacchus and Brian Calhoun.

ATTORNEY GENERAL AG