Government is forging ahead with implementing the recommendations of last year?s Judicial Review according to Telecommunications Minister Michael Scott, labelling as ?arrant nonsense? Opposition claims that progress has been painfully slow.

And while Mr. Scott, who was speaking on behalf of Attorney General in the House of Assembly yesterday, insisted that the reforms would transform the judicial system into one all Bermudians could be proud of, Shadow Minister for Legislative Affairs Trevor Moniz argued that public confidence in the system had sunk to its lowest ebb and that Government was merely ?fiddling while Rome burns?.

The Judicial Review Committee was established in February 2004 and tasked with identifying flaws in the system and making extended recommendations for improvement.

That committee, which completed its work in two months, was chaired by Justice Norma Wade-Miller and included Justice Ian Kawaley, Crown counsel Juan Wolffe, Principal Crown Counsel Phillip Perinchief, Chief Parliamentary Counsel Lorraine Welch, former Attorney General Saul Froomkin QC, defence lawyer Victoria Pearman and Rod Attride-Sterling.

Mr. Scott said that 23 of the 42 recommendations made by the Justice System Review Committee in April last year have either been completed or are underway ? a sure sign the Government was taking the committee?s report seriously.

The problems which the recommendations seek to tackle are reducing the backlog of cases in the court system, improving the administrative functions of the courts, identifying ways of improving judicial training locally and uncovering criminal law and practice reforms to enhance the efficiency of overall system.

Some of the recommendations adopted or ?in the process? of being so include:

Improved trial scheduling with a designated Deputy Supreme Court Registrar responsible for overseeing the listing of court matters

Increased sentencing powers for Magistrates? Court

An attempt to expand the number of lawyers volunteering for the Legal Aid scheme

A new committee to generate funding initiatives for a new Supreme Court complex at the Old Fire Station

New time limits for delivery of civil judgements

Mrs. Justice Wade-Miller spearheading a new Justice System Training Institute sanctioned by Attorney General

The abolition of Special Juries and the enactment of PACE legislation which governs the arrest, detention and interviewing of suspects

But in an impassioned attack, Opposition MP Trevor Moniz criticised both the scope of the report and the make-up of the committee, while accusing Government of neglecting the justice system?s core problems and tackling only the issues of ?housekeeping and management?.

A liberal bias on the committee and in Government policy towards judicial reform, he said was tipping the scales of justice too heavily in favour of defendants ? adding that the interests of the victims of crime were being neglected and that it was becoming far too easy to be acquitted in Bermuda.

?The justice system of this country is in crisis,? he said.

?The public?s confidence in the judicial system is extremely low and when that happens, as we have seen, there is an increase in examples of vigilantism. People do not trust the Police and decide to deal with their complaints on their own. What we have in this report is a shopping list of managerial and administrative reforms which have their value but do not go to the root of the problem. Acquittal rates in Bermuda compared to other jurisdictions are fantastically high. My patience is at end and so is the communities ? people are not interested in mollycoddling criminals and are losing faith.?

Opposition MPs rose throughout the evening to buttress Mr. Moniz?s sentiments, with Opposition House Leader John Barritt likening Government?s stance to judicial reform to rearranging paintings in a burning house.

Among a list of what they consider to be more profound reforms which have not been addressed include:

Giving the prosecution the same right of appeal as the defence

Providing the option of criminal trials proceeding without a jury, with the judge the sole arbiter

A broadening of the jury pool selection process so that nobody is exempt

Expanded witness protection legislation and greater use of court subpoenas to legally obligate witnesses to testify

But speaking afterwards, Mr. Scott rejected the suggestion liberal policies were turning Bermuda?s judicial system soft, arguing the reforms suggested by the committee had been needed for some time and would be carried out expeditiously.