Dame Lois Brown Evans slammed the powers that be for failing to make the appointment of a Puisne Judge, which she believed would help ease a 12 month backlog of Supreme Court criminal and civil cases.

In the House of Assembly last night the Minister of Legislative Affairs, was outraged at the delays, which are understood to lie with the Chief Justice and the Governors Office.

Dame Lois' concerns come on the heals of Assistant Justices Charles-Etta Simmons and Archibald Warners having had their posts extended until the end of this year.

Both have served a combined three years in the temporary positions and carry the same powers of Puisne Judges.

They were enacted into the positions to help move criminal cases forward. Currently there are up to three posts that need to be filled, but it is believed the delay lies with the Governors Office, which officially makes the appointments.

Legal sources told The Royal Gazette there was a reluctance to make the appointments because Bermuda's next Governor has not arrived.

However, when Deputy Governor Tim Gurney was contacted, he said that the decision had to be made by Chief Justice Austin Ward.

But Dame Lois said: “I don't understand why we have to have the support of two Assistant Judges. I can't understand why a Puisne Judge has not been appointed and why we have the support of the others.

“I hear that it's a decision between the Governor and the Chief Justice and maybe the UK, although I don't know what they have to do with it. I'm sure there is sufficient ability in this community at the salary we offer to find a Bermudian Puisne Judge. We need one permanently and I don't know why we are only getting two temporarily. Someone has to do something about filling these positions. If we get one more judge it would be a great help.”

And the delay has also puzzled court insiders who said the workload on the judges has become strained.

They added if there was to be an efficient delivery of judgements in the massive amount of cases still yet to be heard, the vacant post should be filled.

It is estimated on average the Supreme Court sees at least ten applications a day for civil cases, while criminal cases represent ten percent of the load.

“In terms of a small jurisdiction such as Bermuda, there is a lot of work that needs to be done,” said a source, who declined to be named. “The Supreme Court is still at least 12 months behind. There are massive civil cases, international and local, going on that keep the judges tied up in chambers.

“Now, there is the Court of Appeals going on all this month - that means that trial lawyers are tied up and that is bound to delay the court schedule even more. It's hard to keep up with it.”

Currently Supreme Court is being manned by Chief Justice Austin Ward, Puisne Judges Norma Wade-Miller, Vincent Meerabux and Mrs. Justice Simmons and Mr. Justice Warner focusing mostly on criminal trials. And when Mr. Justice Ward was contacted about the mystery surrounding the delay in making the appointments, he said the decision was still under review.

However, the legal source said Bermuda's court system was seeing a “great injustice” with the delays, pointing out that the year long back log is infringing on the Constitutional rights of those on remand in prison, specifically foreign nationals awaiting trial.

“The concept of a fair and speedy trial goes right out the window,” he said. “Is it fair for a man to be on remand for more than a year before he is brought to trial? It's not consistent. But part of the reason is because there is a heavy court load and there is an abundance of work to be done. If someone has been working in the job for a year, then you should be satisfied with what they are doing. If they are doing a bad job, then I can't understand why not keep them on. The system is overloaded and it needs to speed up.”