Shadow Legislative Affairs Minister John Barritt has called on Attorney General Dame Lois Browne Evans to apologise for the "threat" she made to a judge in the House of Assembly last Friday.

Dame Lois hit out after Assistant Justice Philip Storr in a written judgment condemned her behaviour as "unacceptable" for not providing a legal opinion in the BAS-Serco firefighters' dispute at the Airport.

She was a named party in the proceedings and it was her duty to give the courts an opinion on constitutional issues, raised by Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU), in the case which affected the country, the judge wrote.

In response, Dame Lois said in the House of Assembly last Friday that Mr. Justice Storr should have written to her rather than mention it in his written judgment.

She added: "I want the Governor and everyone else listening to know. Keep judges in a respectful mood or else".

She said in yesterday's Royal Gazette that she had merely been warning that the bench and lawyers to be respectful to one another.

Mr. Barritt, a lawyer, said yesterday: "The outburst of Dame Lois Browne-Evans in the House of Assembly last Friday showed very poor judgment, both in her capacity as the Attorney General of Bermuda and as a senior member of the Government.

"She should, on her own accord, retract and apologise for her remarks when the House next meets.

"Specifically Dame Lois should retract and apologise for her intemperate criticism of a Supreme Court judge and her threat that judges should maintain a respectful mood 'or else'.

"The threat - and that is what the remark was, coming as it did from a senior member of the Government who also happens to be the Attorney General - was unwarranted. So too, was her criticism of the judge.

"It was quite proper, in my view, for the Judge to have expressed in his written judgment his astonishment and disappointment that the Attorney General's Chambers did not participate in the hearing to the extent that they should have.

"The Attorney General was joined as a party to the proceedings; the record shows the Attorney General was a named defendant by one of the parties to the proceedings, namely the BIU.

"Moreover, the BIU was claiming that legislation drafted by her Chambers was unconstitutional, in that it infringed a fundamental right and freedom enshrined in the Bermuda Constitution Order. Chambers were also represented throughout the hearing by, not one but two attorneys from Chambers, including the top man, the Solicitor General.

"That the Attorney General and her Chambers should have no view of the legislation which was being challenged defies any credible explanation - and in my view none has been given. Speaking for myself, and my party, and for reasonable thinking people in this country, we are grateful that the Judge drew our attention to this.

"The Attorney General may be a political appointment, but the Attorney General of Bermuda draws a handsome six-figure salary - even more than the Premier - because the office requires the holder to be more than just a partisan political adviser.

"This matter was just such a case which required the Attorney General to rise above partisan party politics and to fulfil another very important function without fear or favour. The constitutionality of legislation was being challenged, legislation which incidentally was made law after the PLP came to power.

"Why would the AG instruct her Chambers not to express a view on the challenge? After all they drafted the legislation. Instead we are left with the appearance that the Attorney General decided not to run the risk of offending her friends in the BIU by simply choosing to remain silent. It's a course of action that demands explanation - and neither the judge nor the country have been given any reasonable explanation to date.

"Instead, the top legal officer in the land, and that is what Dame Lois is as the Attorney General of Bermuda, chose to denigrate and threaten the judge on the floor of the House. It was unfortunate in any event that she was able to get as far as she did frankly - as such criticism is not permitted under the rules of the House

"The most senior member of the House should have known that - moreover it was a poor example to set not just for members of the House but the country. If her only justification for the criticism was: well, he criticised me - and that's what it seems to boil down to - it borders on the juvenile of 'tit for tat' and again that's a very poor example for the Attorney General of this country to be setting.

"Sadly though, such behaviour seems to be standard operating procedure for the Smith Government. It smacks of the arrogance of power under which there are threatened consequences for everyone who says or does anything that offends them, but no consequences at all for anything offensive that they do or say."

Dame Lois told The Royal Gazette on Tuesday that she had dealt with the matter and it was finished. The newspaper called last night seeking comment but was told Dame Lois would not be back until after midnight.