Details of a writ filed against the media by Premier Ewart Brown and former Government Minister Nelson Bascome had not been received by this newspaper yesterday.

This meant the nature of the allegations made by the pair — who have launched libel and slander action over reports from a leaked Police dossier on allegations of corruption at the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC) — remain unclear.

Lawyers who filed the papers at the Supreme Court Registry on Tuesday have up to a year from that date to serve papers on the media organisations named in them.

According to Saul Froomkin QC, if and when the case comes to court the leaked BHC file — the subject of current action in the Appeal Court by the Police and Attorney General to who wish to block further disclosures — could be revealed in full.

Mr. Froomkin said if the court hearing the libel case deemed it relevant and necessary to prove either side's case, it could compel the disclosure of the full dossier.

He is representing this newspaper group against the Attorney General and Police Commissioner, who are seeking to get the Court of Appeal to overturn a ruling by the Chief Justice that the press should not be banned from reporting more of the file.

The pair launched the action against the Island's media outlets after ZBM and the Mid-Ocean News published extracts from the documents on May 23 and June 1 respectively.

The leaked dossier — said to run to thousands of pages — reportedly revealed that Dr. Brown, former Premier Jennifer Smith, former Ministers Renée Webb and Arthur Hodgson and construction boss Zane DeSilva were investigated by Police looking into allegations of corruption at the BHC. It also reportedly makes allegations about Mr. Bascome.

Commissioner George Jackson and Attorney General Philip Perinchief asked for a ban on the so-far unpublished sections being reported, although the contents of these were not outlined during the hearing. Less than 24 hours after Mr. Justice Ground ruled against this, the pair took their fight to the Court of Appeal, which is set to announce its decision on Monday morning.

The action by the Commissioner and Attorney General is against the same media organisations named by Dr. Brown and Mr. Bascome in their writs — the Bermuda Broadcasting Company, Bermuda Press Holdings, DeFontes Broadcasting Company and the Bermuda Sun.

Neither Charles Richardson, the lawyer representing the Premier, and Victoria Pearman, representing Mr. Bascome, have commented on the details of the action.

According to lawyer Timothy Marshall, the fact that the writ has been served means that both Dr. Brown and Mr. Bascome can cite it as a reason for refusing to speak about the BHC saga.

"The burden on the plaintiff is a high one. Whether he wins or loses, the proceedings do allow him the ability to say to the public that the matter is now before the court and I cannot comment on the allegations. It remains to be seen whether such an approach, if adopted, will fly with the public," remarked Mr. Marshall.