The Bermudian public should not be taken in by an Opposition "playing politics" with the planned reform of the justice system, Attorney General Larry Mussenden has argued.

Mr. Mussenden was responding to fierce criticism from the Shadow Minister for Legislative Affairs Trevor Moniz and Opposition House Leader John Barritt in the House of Assembly on Friday, where the report written last year by the eight-person Judicial System Review Committee was debated.

That committee, which was formed in February 2004 and completed its work in two months, was chaired by Justice Norma Wade-Miller and included Justice Ian Kawaley, Crown counsel Juan Wolffe, Principal Crown Counsel Phillip Perinchief, Chief Parliamentary Counsel Lorraine Welch, former Attorney General Saul Froomkin QC, defence lawyer Victoria Pearman and Rod Attride-Sterling.

But Mr. Moniz and Mr. Barritt took strong issue with both the tone and scope of the report, while claiming that Government's slowness in instituting reform was undermining people's faith in the justice system.

A "liberal bias", meanwhile, at the heart of Government policy ? such as the upcoming PACE legislation which will govern the arrest, detention and interviewing of suspects ? was tipping the scales of justice too heavily in favour of the defendant, Mr. Moniz insisted, while the victims were being neglected.

"The justice system of this country is in crisis," he said on Friday evening. "The public's confidence in the judicial system is extremely low and when that happens, as we have seen, there is is an increase in examples of vigilantism. People do not trust the Police and decide to deal with their complaints on their own. What we have in this report is a shopping list of managerial and administrative reforms which have their value but do not go to the root of the problem.

Acquittal rates in Bermuda compared to other jurisdictions are fantastically high. My patience is at end and so is the communities ? people are not interested in mollycoddling criminals and are losing faith. While Government fiddles, Rome burns."

However, the Attorney General was decidedly unimpressed with these sentiments, labelling them as "grossly exaggerated".

Calling the reforms a programme of "modernisation" rather than liberalisation, Mr. Mussenden said he was extremely happy with the 42 recommendations contained in the report ? entitled "Justice System Review: Guidelines for Improving Bermuda's Justice System" ? and said they were to act as a "blueprint" for the future.

He agreed, however, that problems such as the recent collapse of a number of high profile cases as a result of witnesses reluctant to testify were a concern ? but that does not mean the system is crumbling, he added.

He pointed also to new initiatives such as the stiffer penalties for drug importers and the increase in sentencing powers for Magistrates' as signs that offenders are not getting off lightly and that justice is being served.

"I think its hugely exaggerated to say that everybody is losing faith in the justice system," he said.

"The civil and commercial divisions work well. We've had a few instances where witnesses have decided not to give evidence in criminal trials, but that does not mean the whole system is collapsing or that everybody has lost faith in the administration of justice in Bermuda. I think it's a job of politics by Barritt and Moniz who are constantly trying to hammer the Government about these things. We have laws in place and we continue to modernise them and make adjustments where it has to be tightened up. I know that lawyers involved in the DPP's [Department of Public Prosecutions office, lawyers on the defence bar and the judiciary are very excited about the changes that are coming. As far as I'm aware the Chief Justice [Richard Ground is excited about the report as well. So with the legislation we have planned, this a very exciting time to be a practitioner in the justice system in Bermuda."

Responding to complaints that the committee appointed to review the system was overtly liberal and contained too many members with strong links to the Progressive Labour Party, Mr. Mussenden scoffed.

"I don't agree with that at all ? Trevor Moniz is talking arrant nonsense," he said.

"We had a committee put together which included two sitting Supreme Court judges, a former Attorney General, current practitioners and a parliamentary counsel. I did not want it to be too large because they tend to be a little unwieldy. They cannot meet, they cannot all get together at the same time because of other commitments etceteras. But I thought it was a broad-based committee that was able to look at the practicalities of the court and the problems of the court system and what needs to be done to ensure greater efficiency and effectiveness. I'm absolutely delighted with it and over half of the recommendations have now been acted upon or are about to be."

There were also a total of 55 written submissions given to the committee by various practitioners, including the Chief Justice, he said, so for anybody to claim that the report was not broadly representative of opinion within the legal community was "absurd".

Mr. Mussenden then accused the Opposition MPs of being disingenuous in their comments made in the House of Assembly, in that they went out of their way to praise committee member Mr. Froomkin and the Chief Justice for his written submission, but did not have "one word of gratitude" for the other seven committee members who gave up "a large amount" of time to compile the report.

"Neither John Barritt or Trevor Moniz thanked anybody on this committee ? other than Saul Froomkin ? for giving up their time to produce this report over the course of two months," he said.

"This review has an enormous amount of worth in it. Everything that I am doing now stems from this report. They took time out to thank the Chief Justice for his submission and Saul Froomkin but did not mention anybody else. I think that says more about them and their politicking than anything else and I will tell John Barritt that when I see him. They are playing politics with our judicial system and I don't have time for that."

The Attorney General also came to the defence of the DPP, who came were given a fearsome battering in the House by Shadow Minister of Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety Maxwell Burgess, claiming the office was being filled with "losers imported from down south" who were winning fewer and fewer convictions.

Crown counsel Juan Wolffe's decision to leave the DPP shortly out of concerns for its future cast a very long shadow over the office, he added.

"Criticism of the DPP's office is entirely unfounded," Mr. Mussenden retorted.

"They have to deal with a high volume of cases that come through the justice system. The DPP's lawyers are down there all the time in every court prosecuting, and I believe they are doing a very good job of it."