Testimony is due to begin today before a Human Rights Tribunal hearing a racial discrimination complaint nearly five years after it was lodged by businessman Harold Darrell against 16 Bank of Bermuda directors and its former chief executive officer.

The Tribunal convened on Wednesday but little ground was made in the last two days as wrangling over documents delayed proceedings getting off the ground.

The first day of the hearing was adjourned to yesterday morning after less than two hours in session to give Mr. Darrell time to produce a witness list.

And yesterday?s proceedings nearly stalled as Anthony Cottle, Mr. Darrell?s attorney, asked the Tribunal?s leave to summons the bank for documents outlining its customer policies from the time the dispute began in the 1990s.

Mr. Darrell, a former bank customer, contends that a complaint he made to the bank?s Board in 2000 was never properly dealt with, and that this was racially motivated. Mr. Darrell?s initial dispute with the bank dates back into the 1990s after an alleged confidentiality breach.

Nine witnesses are expected to give evidence supporting Mr. Darrell?s complaint, with Mr. Darrell due to be the first to take the stand today. The bank has lined up 14 witnesses on its side.

Proceedings got held up yesterday after Mr. Cottle said it would be out of the norm to proceed without the ?key? policy documents in hand. To not have them, he said, was to ?unjustly deprive? his client of evidence.

Tribunal chairman W. Paul King, after a day of going back and forth on the issue, said the bank should produce the documents. ?We want Mr. Darrell to have his proper day in court,? he said. ?This is a serious case, and Mr. Darrell has waited a long time...?

Jeffrey Elkinson, who is representing the bank?s directors, said the documents could take time to produce, but the matter would be addressed as quickly as possible. ?In racial discrimination tribunals, it is standard to start with policy and look at how it was applied in the complainant?s case,? Corey Butterfield, an assistant to Mr. Darrell, who also acts as his spokesman, told .

But lawyers representing the bank parties said the petition for documents was ?a fishing expedition?, and ?a red herring? designed to keep Mr. Darrell out of the witness box. ?What happened today was outrageous,? said the bank?s senior legal counsel Sonja Salmon. ?We are here (to have the hearing), why are we not getting on with it??

Saul Froomkin QC, who is representing former CEO Henry Smith, said his client had flown in on a private jet that morning, and cancelled meetings, to be present.

Mr. Smith is expected to give evidence in due course, with the hearing scheduled to continue through the end of next week.

?Fish or cut bait!? Mr. Froomkin said after nearly a full day of legal wrangling over documents that threatened to push the matter to an impasse.

Ms Salmon said September 21 was fixed as the date for the Tribunal two months ago, following a June 28 Court of Appeal decision to throw out the bank?s attempt to quash the matter.

?These are serious allegations, let?s hear the evidence,? she said, adding she was ?shocked? the proceedings were being held up on documents that were said to be ?so germane? but had not been asked for before.

While Mr. Darrell has been waiting nearly five years to bring his complaint before a Human Rights Tribunal, his legal team fell apart in the days before the Tribunal, according to reports from both sides yesterday.

In the hearing it was said that Julian Hall, who was to lead Mr. Darrell?s racial discrimination complaint, had been dismissed by Mr. Darrell because, without instructions, he approached a bank lawyer to discuss reaching a settlement.

Mr. Cottle was appointed to take Mr. Hall?s place on September 16, and has complained that he?s playing catch up because of the short time he?s had on the case, and that he?s at a disadvantage against the five-strong legal team representing the respondents. Mr. Cottle is the sole legal counsel for Mr. Darrell in this matter ? something he pointed to as evidence of how his client was limited by much smaller resources than the bank.

He said this was often the situation in racial discrimination cases, and was generally considered by tribunals hearing such matters.

Lawyers on hand for the bank parties are: senior legal counsel Sonja Salmon, Mr. Elkinson assisted by Ben Adamson and Saul Froomkin, who is being assisted by Venous Telford.

Also in court over the last two days have been several of the directors named in the complaint. Mr. Darrell has previously been represented in legal cases related to the matter by Queen?s Counsel Cherie Booth Blair and Delroy Duncan.

Mrs. Booth Blair is expected to return as Mr. Darrell?s counsel in November when the parties are due in court to determine the separate matter of whether Mr. Darrell was the victim of a confidentiality breach.

Mr. Darrell contends that a 1996 business deal turned sour after confidential information about his financial situation was leaked to the party he was negotiating with.

The matter before the Human Rights Tribunal is whether the complaint that Mr. Darrell made to bank directors was shunned because he is black and his witnesses are black.

The bank said its directors did not respond to letters from Mr. Darrell in 2000 on legal advice because Mr. Darrell had begun legal proceedings against the bank.

The past and present directors who it is alleged were racially motivated in not responding to Mr. Darrell?s complaint are: former chief executive Henry B. Smith, who remains a bank director, Hon. Dr. Clarence James, Hon. Ann F. Cartwright Decouto, William de V. Frith;

Eldon H. Trimingham, Geoffrey K. Elliott, David Hamshere, G. Ward Young, Paul Leseur, John D. Campbell, Richard S. L. Pearman, Dennis G. Tucker, E. Eugene Bean, Joseph Johnson, Louise Jackson, Peter Cooper and David Gutteridge.

During today?s hearing, Mr. Cottle is expected go through a chronology of events, and introduce pertinent documents and legal precedents before Mr. Darrell takes the stand.