The axiom "justice delayed is justice denied" is a good principle for any court system to uphold.

That's why Chief Justice Richard Ground's call last week for a third criminal court should not go unheeded.

Mr. Justice Ground, in a speech to Sandys Rotary, said the Supreme Court was dealing with 88 criminal cases so far this year compared to just 39 in 1999.

Whether this is a result of increased lawlessness or better policing remains something of an open question ? but the crime figures released by the Police point to an increase in violent crime even as the overall crime rate has remained static.

In addition, the courts are more efficient. There were 19 full Supreme Court trial between April and September ? more than in the whole of 2003.

That creates its own momentum, while the continued onslaught of new cases means that the backlog could easily increase again if the rate of dealing with cases slows down.

Mr. Justice Ground has stated that the current judicial team is strong, but that there are not enough judges. While the appointments of two new full-time Bermudian judges have been authorised, at least one new court room will then be needed to accommodate them.

Presumably the plans for the new court building and Police headquarters on Court Street would satisfy the need, but its actual construction has not yet been approved.

There are some good reasons for this, notably that the construction sector is overheated, meaning the cost of the building is likely to be high. So it is worth waiting until the construction cycle heads downward.

But even if construction began in 2005, it is likely that it would be at least 18 months to two years before it could be occupied.

Here, the options are few. Mr. Justice Ground has stated that the courtrooms in Booth Hall that were set up to accommodate two lengthy civil trials have mildew and are damp, and that it would not be cost effective to renovate them when they are rented from private landlords.

It is hard to see what other alternatives there are. Government should look at a cost-effective renovation of Booth Hall to make it useable for criminal trials.

Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons and economist Craig Simmons have both warned that the wage settlement agreed between Government and its civil servants could drive up inflation.

They are right to be concerned. Unionised teachers who went on strike in the spring to get parity with civil servants will no doubt be unhappy now. And Mr. Simmons rightly says blue collar workers will probably use this as a benchmark.

No one begrudges anyone a reasonable pay increase. But this increase is more than one percent above the rate of inflation and does not seem to have been accompanied by any increases in productivity. Nor has a case been made for civil servants being underpaid; on the contrary, they are often paid better than their private sector counterparts.

If this award sets off a round of similar wage agreements, it will be reflected in higher taxes and higher prices for goods and services, which in turn will set off another round of higher pay increases. This inflationary spiral will make Bermuda less and less competitive.

Mr. Simmons is right to say that this in part is caused by an overheated economy. But the answer cannot be to allow the inflation rate to keep rising unchecked.