Attorney General Dame Lois Browne Evans yesterday launched a bitter attack on Canadian lawyers who formerly worked in the Department of Public Prosecutions, accusing them of thinking they were better than Bermudian attorneys and of having the wrong attitude to the law.

A number of Canadian lawyers, including former Principal Crown counsel Brian Calhoun, have left the DPP's chambers since the Progressive Labour Party came to power.

Dame Lois told MPs yesterday that Canadians in the DPP's chambers tried to "bend over backwards to get a conviction" and would "strut about the streets" thinking they were the greatest lawyers Bermuda had ever seen.

During the debate on Legislative Affairs, she said: "Some prosecutors from Canada from before didn't follow our way and their attitude was 'I must bend over backwards to get a conviction'.

"That's not the British system. Leave the facts before the jury and let them decide. Don't bend over backwards and insist you're not a good prosecutor until you win every case and strut about the streets of Bermuda like you're the best prosecutor that ever came here.

"I deplore that and I hope people would look to the young Bermudians we have (now). Canadians have the wrong attitude.

"If they don't get what they want they run to the newspapers and put a lot of stuff out and then still get work permits. Check how many are still here. They haven't gone home. I've done my best to Bermudianise this department."

Dame Lois said the DPP's office now had a Senior Crown counsel from Jamaica, one from Barbados, and seven counsel from Bermuda.

Her reference to lawyers "running to the newspapers" is believed to be a reference to former Canadian Senior Crown counsel Peter Eccles who complained in 2000 about some defence lawyers taking false xenophobic and racist "cheapshots" to get their clients off.

Earlier in the debate, Dame Lois said she did not understand why another Puisne Judge had not been appointed rather than have two assistant Puisne Judges.

She said it was for the Chief Justice, the Governor and the British Government to make the appointment and it needed to be done soon.

Shadow Legislative Affairs Minister John Barritt said Government had set up a Cabinet Committee more than two years ago to look at judges' salaries and appointments but nothing had been heard since. And he said a judicial committee should be set up to look at these appointments.

The departure of Puisne Judge Dennis Mitchell, who halted the Thyssen-Bornemisza trust trial by quitting dramatically last year, left a gap in Bermuda's judiciary because the Island now has no one with sufficient knowledge of commercial law.

He said Government may have to offer a salary higher than that offered in the private sector to entice a commercial lawyer now in Bermuda to become a Puisne Judge.

Mr. Barritt said part of Dame Lois's mission statement at Legislative Affairs to "prosecute and direct the public courts" was in direct contravention of the Constitution because the Director of Public Prosecutions should not be subject to direction from anyone.

Mr. Barritt also protested at the Press being moved from seats inside the Chamber of the House of Assembly into the public benches where they often had difficulty hearing.

"We need to appreciate and respect the dignity accorded to the Press and allow them into the well of the House. It is a poor message it sends to the Press of Bermuda and it is short-sighted," said Mr. Barritt.

"If they are in the public gallery, at best it's a distraction. It requires revisiting. It is not a good position. They are the 41st member of this House and they report what they hear, whether we like it or not."

Mr. Barritt said a "crackdown" on traffic offenders had been launched, whether it was announced or not, because estimates of revenues had gone up from $2.4 million to $3.8 million.