Bermuda's Commercial Court finally has an appropriate home in a state-of-the-art court room.

The court was launched in 2006 to handle disputes within the business and financial sectors.

However, with Bermuda's three Supreme Court rooms busy with criminal matters, it's been forced at times to sit in hotel conference rooms, church halls and the Salvation Army Citadel.

The new courtroom is located on the second floor of the Government Administration Building. Attorney General Kim Wilson and Chief Justice Richard Ground were among the dignitaries who attended the official ribbon-cutting by Premier Ewart Brown on Thursday.

They were then given a tour of the facilities, which include two Commercial Court rooms, judges' chambers and administrative offices.

In a speech marking the occasion, Mr. Justice Ground said: "The public tends to overlook the commercial side of the Supreme Court, no doubt because it is overshadowed by the criminal work. It is inevitable that criminal trials will get all the attention. Yet the commercial jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is a vital component of Bermuda's financial and business sector, and it offers those who come to it an efficient, professional and effective means of dispute resolution.

"The Commercial Court is now heavily used, and the cases it hears can involve huge sums of money and have important international consequences. I know that it is well-respected abroad, but it has been neglected at home and one consequence of that has been that until now it lacked appropriate premises.

"Sometimes we even had to try serious, international cases in Church Halls or the Salvation Army Citadel, and that was just not good for Bermuda or for its international image.

"The opening of this new facility puts that right. We now have a seat for the Commercial Court which matches the professionalism of the judges who sit in it, and the importance of the cases they hear. It projects the right image for Bermuda. It is something that we can all be proud of."

The Premier said the new facility rivals any commercial court in any part of the world, commenting: "This is Bermuda and this is how we do business."

The Island is set to get new Magistrates' Courts when a new $91 million Police and court building is completed on the corner of Church and Court Streets next year.

However, the Chief Justice spoke out earlier this year on the "desperate need" for new Supreme Court buildings to handle criminal trials. He expressed concerns over security at the current antiquated facilities, which are housed in the 195-year-old Sessions House and 216-year-old Customs House.