A local lawyer and his client are challenging Bermudian law in Supreme Court in an effort to level the playing field between adopted children and those born to Bermudian parents.

Lawyer Mark Diel and his client, John Simmons, who was adopted by a Bermudian when he was 17, are challenging the Immigration Law, specifically Section 22 which states that adopted children who possess Bermudian status, will have to reapply for permanent Bermudian status before they turn 22.

This law only affects adopted children, step-children or children born to those who have been given Bermudian status ? not children born to Bermudian parents. Mr. Simmons, who was born in Jamaica, but adopted by the late Olga Simmons when he was 17, was denied status when he applied before his 22nd birthday because he had not been in Bermuda for the stipulated minimum of five years.

The law currently requires all adopted children applying for Bermudian status to have lived in Bermuda for at least five consecutive years prior to their application and to apply for status by their 22nd birthday.

Mr. Diel argued that Mr. Simmons, who returned to Jamaica after his adoption to complete his education, was not entitled to apply for status because of the limitation of doing so before the age of 22.

Mr. Simmons had only been back in Bermuda for three consecutive years, as opposed to five, at the time he was turned down.

The 28-year-old Mr. Simmons has been living in Bermuda on work permits for the last nine years and Chief Justice Richard Ground argued that he could apply for status by virtue of naturalisation after ten years anyway.

Mr. Diel agreed, adding that Mr. Simmons would be eligible to apply for status next year, but had been ordered to sell property he inherited now and could not wait.

The problem, he said, was that Mr. Simmons? adopted mother Olga, has since died and according to the law, he now has to sell two properties he inherited because non-Bermudians are not allowed to own property on the Island.

Mr. Diel argued that the Adoption Law and Immigration Law clashed with each other when it came to ownership of property.

He told the court that Mr. Simmons did not want to sell the properties, but should he be turned down by the court, he might have no choice.

However, Mr. Justice Ground told the court that Bermudian status was not ?given? to children, but that they are only ?deemed? to possess and enjoy Bermudian status until they reach the age of 22 when they have to apply for it.

Mr. Justice Ground is expected to give a ruling in this case later today.