Establishing a Law Reform Commission remains "an important milestone for Government" but has been on the back burner due to a surge in violent crime, according to the Attorney General.

Senator Kim Wilson — whose Law Reform Commission Act was passed by Parliament in June last year but is still not in force — told The Royal Gazette: "We are well aware of the delay in establishing the Law Reform Commission."

She explained: "Whilst this remains an important milestone for Government, the unprecedented increase in violent crime made it necessary for the Ministry of Justice to focus its resources almost exclusively on the development and implementation of legislative and other initiatives aimed at increasing Police powers, protecting and supporting witnesses, monitoring offenders, increasing penalties for firearms offences and imposing conditions with respect to the granting of Police bail etc.

"Having successfully addressed these challenges legislatively, we are now in the process of developing mechanisms to monitor their implementation in order to determine their effectiveness.

"Thus, in the scheme of priorities, the Ministry has recently resumed the task of finalising the steps to properly establish the administrative structure to support the operation of a Law Reform Commission, in accordance with the Act, now that the busy legislative session has concluded."

Sen. Wilson said she expected the process to be completed "within the next several months".

Shadow Attorney General Trevor Moniz said last week that an independent Law Reform Commission, to ensure Bermuda's laws are up-to-date and not obsolete, was badly needed.

The Deputy Opposition Leader questioned whether the Island's Law Reform Committee had now been disbanded, despite being included in the list of government-appointed boards published in the Official Gazette at the start of the year.

Sen. Wilson said on Saturday: "I cannot speak to what may have happened with the ad hoc Law Reform Committee without reviewing the file, which will not surface until next week.

"I too recall directing that the committee be gazetted but, having left this to my technical team, I am not certain what transpired."

Mr. Moniz is also questioning why a review of family law — published by a subcommittee of the Law Reform Committee in August 2009 — has still not been tabled in the House of Assembly.

Ministry of Justice permanent secretary Kathy Lightbourne-Simmons told this newspaper: "My administrative staff have confirmed that the Justice for Families report has been discussed by Cabinet but will not be tabled until November.

"The administrative reality is that during the focus on the legislative initiatives pertaining to combat the increase in violent crime — e.g. amendments to the Bail and Firearms Acts — the tabling of the report has been delayed, although the Ministry dialogue, in respect of its contents and the implementation of the recommendations that have been embraced by Cabinet, remains an ongoing priority."