Public input into historic changes to Bermuda's electoral system is being sought by the Boundaries Commission which began its work yesterday.

But critics say the entire process should be conducted in public because the Commission is re-writing Bermuda's Constitution rather than tinkering with boundaries.

The six-person Commission is charged with recommending the number and boundaries of constituencies in a revamped single-seat electoral system as the Island moves away from parish-based seats.

Commission Chairman Sir Frank Blackman said yesterday the body was very anxious to meet the public.

He said: "This experience involves all the citizens of Bermuda. We are required by law to hear the views of the public."

Sir Frank said the Commission would be getting out into the current constituencies for public meetings set to start early next year.

People can also send written submissions addressed to the Commission's Secretary Clevelyn Critchlow at the General Post Office.

Sir Frank said the commission would then sit in private to mull over what the public had suggested but he said it might then be possible to go back to the public.

He said: "As far as possible we want to be open to the public."

But The Association for Due Process and the Constitution secretary Warren Cabral said: "This Boundary Commission is very different from previous ones.

"It's function is to redraw the electoral map and thus the public has an overwhelming interest in every material aspect of their deliberations.

"It would be inappropriate for the Commission to conduct its affairs in anything other than the scrutiny of the public."

Mr. Cabral argued that in completely carving up the Country, the Boundaries Commission was unique, making it more like a Royal Commission in the UK, which he said is completely open to the public.

He said tribunals also had to be open to the public. He said his group would be watching very closely how the Boundaries Commission operated and could again resort to the courts in either Britain or Bermuda despite losing their High Court bid for judicial review in July.

"We have the wherewithal to continue to take legal action," said Mr. Cabral.

Deputy Premier Eugene Cox, who along with Attorney General Dame Lois Browne Evans, represents the Progressive Labour Party on the Commission said he was looking forward to getting on with the people's business and coming to a rapid solution in time for the next election which must come by November 2003.

Dame Lois said: "I am very proud to be here, very happy."

Former Opposition Leader Pamela Gordon, who along with Shadow Minister John Barritt will represent the United Bermuda Party, urged the public to get involved in every way it could.

She said: "It's a very significant change in Bermuda's history. It is a milestone."

"We are not just talking about shifting parishes, we are talking about changing the way Bermuda operates in relation to the size of constituencies, the number of representatives to Parliament.

"People should stay committed and involved. It will ultimately affect the average Bermudian."

Sir Brian Smedley, a retired British High Court Judge will serve as the Commission's judicial member.

He said his role was to make sure the Commission sticks to its mandate of deciding on between 20 and 40 single seat constituencies.

The Boundaries Commission was set up by an Order in Council in the UK in August.

It states that the Boundaries Commission shall: "Ensure that the constituencies shall contain, as far as is reasonably practicable, equal numbers of persons qualified to be registered as electors".

It further states that the Boundaries Commission not take racial distribution of electors into account, can ignore parish boundaries, but take into account natural boundaries and geographical features.

Once the report is completed, it will be debated in the House and sent to the Foreign Secretary with a record of the House debate.

A British judge threw out an application by The Association for Due Process and The Constitution for judicial review of the UK Government's handling of Constitutional reform. The judge said the changes were not major and were initiated by the Bermuda Government which had received a mandate from the electorate to do so.

The Association wanted a Constitutional conference to look into the matter.