PREMIER Alex Scott has accused the British Government of employing a "colonial" procedure to pick a new Chief Justice for the island, as the rift between the Government and Government House widened yesterday.

Responding publicly yesterday to last Thursday's appointment of Englishman Richard Ground to the top legal post against the Premier's stated wishes, Mr. Scott also said he could understand why the appointment had started people talking about Independence. And he accused Opposition Leader Dr. Grant Gibbons of having "abrogated his own constitutional responsibility" by deferring to the deliberations of the panel that interviewed candidates for the Chief Justice post.

Mr. Scott suggested that the interview panel for the process, which had come out in favour of Mr. Ground, had not had any constitutional authority.

But he added that the Government had no plans to challenge the appointment legally.

Mr. Scott said: "In some specific way, these things are out of our hands, and they should not be in this day and age. That is why some people talk about Independence and I can understand that."

In a press conference at the Cabinet building, Mr. Scott revealed a letter he sent to UK Overseas Territories Minister Bill Rammell, bearing yesterday's date.

The letter concludes: "You will also be well aware of the Bermuda Government's concern that the gains which Bermudians have won over the past three decades in administering our own internal affairs should neither be eroded nor reversed.

"The consultative mechanism established by the Bermuda Constitution requiring due regard to be paid to the elected leadership of the Bermudian people has been disregarded in favour of a colonial model which we thought had been relegated to history.

"We shall advise you further of our intentions."

When we contacted Deputy Governor Nick Carter yesterday, he said Government House had not been forwarded a copy of the letter.

Mr. Scott had argued strongly for the new Chief Justice to be Bermudian Puisne Judge Norma Wade Miller.

But Mr. Ground, the Chief Justice of the Turks & Caicos Islands who worked in Bermuda as a Supreme Court judge in the 1990s, was eventually selected after the decision was deferred to UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

Last week, Mr. Rammell said it was inappropriate for the appointment to have become "the subject of political pressure".

Mr. Scott responded: "As I have often stated, this Government has a policy of being transparent and I question, are we to be transparent only when the British Government wishes us to be transparent and forthright, or are we to keep the public informed even when it may prove problematic for Government House, Bill Rammell, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and yes, even us?

"The Constitution required the Governor to consult with me in a meaningful way. Under the Constitution it was my obligation to give advice and express points of view.

"It then follows . . . I would inform the public of the advice I had provided to the Governor. This is not political, it is democracy, it is good Government, it is transparency. Ironically, it is what the British Government claimed they expected of the Overseas Territories Consultative Council members.

"It is curious and perhaps even disingenuous that the British Government was inferring that there had been politicising of the process of appointing a Chief Justice when in fact and in law, the Constitution demands that the Premier and the Opposition Leader be an integral part of the selection practice that leads to just such an appointment."

In his letter to Mr. Rammell, Mr. Scott wrote: "I have to say the constitutional authorities are suggesting there is neither constitutional nor statutory authority for the establishment of the 'interview panel' whose recommendation you have expressly stated that you have 'decided to uphold'.

"Moreover, the elected Government of Bermuda had no role to play in establishing the composition of this interview panel and my views as Premier were not invited beforehand.

"The Bermuda Constitution clearly establishes that the Governor cannot proceed to appoint a Chief Justice until he has first consulted with the Premier as the elected leader of the Government of Bermuda, who must himself beforehand consult with the Opposition Leader. This procedure was not followed.

"The Opposition Leader, in deferring to the deliberations of the interview panel, has clearly abrogated his own constitutional responsibility, a liberty which is not afforded to me."

At the press conference, the Premier asked: "How real, or meaningful, or progressive is this partnership (between Bermuda and the UK)?

"What impact will such a decision have on the career expectations of senior members of the Regiment, the Police or the Department of Public Prosecution? Will our justice system be rolled back to the days when our senior-most jurist posts were reserved for foreigners?"