Government is facing legal action over a failure to decide on a work permit renewal application almost nine months after it was made as English dentist David Thompson's fight to be allowed to work on the Island continues.

In October the Supreme Court ruled that the Dental Board had been biased against Dr. Thompson in its handling of a professional exam that would have cleared the way for him to practise dentistry here.

And in June the Human Rights Commission ruled that his human rights had been violated as well.

Lawyers filed a writ last week seeking to force the Minister of Immigration to make a decision on his work permit renewal application which, according to lawyer Megan Lewin has been met with a "big stony wall of silence".

In a letter to Immigration Minister Terry Lister last month, Ms Lewin said that as far as she was concerned, the Minister's failure to consider the matter was in breach of his statutory duty.

In February last year Dr. Thompson received a work permit to practice after being offered a job by local dentist David Dyer who then began making arrangements for him to sit the qualifying professional examination.

But the Dental Board later wrote to Dr. Dyer saying that only Bermudians or spouses of Bermudians could sit the qualifying examination -even though no such restriction existed in the Dental Practitioners Act. The Board then made attempts to have the work permit revoked.

The Board later allowed Dr. Thompson to sit the examination after Dr. Dyer complained to Health Minister Nelson Bascome.

Dr. Thompson was given a failing grade and, contrary to past practice, was not allowed to re-sit the exam.

In October, the Supreme Court quashed the Dental Board decision saying the examiners' evaluations of his performance was full of contradictions and that at least one of the examiners had been biased against Dr. Thompson.