A man locked up for nearly three years without trial is to appeal after a judge ruled his constitutional rights had been violated but the case could not be dismissed.

On Monday Puisne Judge Philip Storr said public opinion in Bermuda would be ?outraged? if Jamaican Andrew Hall did not stand trial ? particularly because two co-accused who pleaded guilty were jailed for 14 and 18 years. Hall is due to stand trial next month.

Ironically if an appeal is lodged this trial could be delayed and Hall spend further time in remand until after the Court of Appeal looks at the case in February.

Remand prisoners are kept logged up for 23 hours a day and have fewer rights than those who have gone to trial and been found guilty because prison authorities do not want remand prisoners mixing with hardcore criminals.

Mr. Diel said: ?In remand he has less movement than those convicted. I find the whole thing appalling ? the whole concept that in a country with the second highest standard of living in the world you can lock someone up for three years without trial.?

He said Hall had not seen his wife in years and she was in tears when she learned of Monday?s setback.

And he said Hall could not understand how a judge could rule that his constitutional rights had been violated by not having the trial in a reasonable time but still keep him locked up. Mr. Diel will also push for compensation for Hall.

Hall, 39, will have been in custody for two years and ten months by January. He is accused of importing $1.8 million of heroin. Mr. Diel, who took over the case from Patrick Doherty who left the Island, said Hall had never been responsible for one adjournment.

He said Magistrate Edward King had warned the Crown not to be responsible for any more adjournments after three such delays. Other delays were caused by court congestion and because prison officers had not produced the prisoner.

The Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Vinette Graham-Allen could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Diel said in Europe trials should be brought within two years while the time limit for those in custody was shorter.

Last night defence lawyer Larry Mussenden called for a six-month deadline for trials to reach court. Mr. Mussenden said: ?There should be a limit in which cases start. Especially for prisoners on remand.?

He said he couldn?t understand the logic of locking up remand prisoners for 23 hours a day.

?Within six months of a person being charged a trial should start and for those on remand it should be even earlier than that.?

He said a similar deadline was used in various US States including California.

?Most trials don?t take rocket science to get underway.?

He said the investigation is complete by the time someone first gets charged in court.

?At that point it is only a matter of getting the trial started.?

Mr. Mussenden, who has spent three years in the Police force, four years at the Department of Prosecutions and four years as a defence lawyer, has some insight in to why Bermuda?s wheels of justices are running slow. Sometimes there is a delay in getting a trial going because of the defence lawyers busy schedule, said Mr. Mussenden.

He said Bermuda only had a small pool of defence lawyers but he hopes recent amendments to the legal aid act increasing payments for lawyers and expanding the scope of legal aid will encourage more to join.

Having two temporary judges committed to covering criminal trials only would also clear some of the backlog suggested Mr. Mussenden. He said such a system had been successfully tried last year.

?Perhaps we n eed to do that now and get two judges set up to move things along.?

He said the Department of Public Prosecutions needed to speed up the time they spent getting witnesses prepared.

?And a hell of a lot of time is wasted in Magistrates? Court waiting for papers of the Crown?s case.?

Shadow Attorney General Trevor Moniz said it was yet another example of why Bermuda?s justice system needed a full review with each department accountable with an annual report.

He said Attorney General Paula Cox had told him to talk to the Deputy Governor Nick Carter but yesterday Mr. Carter expressed no enthusiasm.

He said Government House would look at it if a number of people lobbied but it would not be pushing for it.

In 2000 Bermuda conducted the Serious Crimes Commission, conducted by a mixed panel of overseas and local experts which published a report that year. But Mr. Moniz said it was a disaster and a missed opportunity.