With the third aspect of the lower court system finally up and running, official appointments have been made of the judges who will sit on the bench of Drug Treatment Court proceedings.

And one of the appointed judges is hoping for big successes with the newly christened court.

In a Government notice in The Royal Gazette last week, it was announced that the Chief Justice had primarily designated Assistant Justice Archibald Warner and Acting Senior Magistrate Carlisle Greaves to head up the duties.

But Assistant Justice Archibald Warner said that his current duties being carried out in the Supreme Court may prevent him from dealing with Drug Treatment Court cases.

It is understood that Mr. Justice Warner and Mr. Greaves received specific training relating to handling of Drug Court matters - which makes up the third pillar of the lower court system along with Magistrates' Court and Family Court.

Yet Mr. Justice Warner suggested that until he resumes his duties in the lower courts, it is likely that Mr. Greaves will shoulder the burden of an expected steady flow of drug criminals seeking an alternative to jail time.

"It's purely a formality really," Mr. Justice Warner told The Royal Gazette. "The Chief Justice can use his discretion in allocating people to deal with the cases. The Senior Magistrate will deal with Magistrates' Court, because he is responsible for the allocation of the work. If there is the discretion, you want people who know what they are doing - until I am transferred back to Magistrates' Court."

But of the prospect of extra duties on his docket, Mr. Greaves said he is not daunted at shouldering the bigger workload.

Instead the no-nonsense magistrate said he is looking forward to the "judicial challenge".

"We have been experimenting since July," he told The Royal Gazette last night. "We wanted to see what kind of teething problems we would have. I'm expected to continue with it, so I'm not complaining."

Mr. Greaves said that the Wednesday afternoon time slot will continue and he said he already averages between 14 to 16 cases in two hours, but he said he "expects that figure to grow substantially".

"Wednesday is an ideal time," he said. "It means balance and a chance to deal with any problems that may arise. The management has been good."

And Mr. Greaves added that the public nor media are not barred from Drug Treatment Court proceedings, pointing out that the public have a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent.

"The community has a right to know and you cannot bar the press," he said. "The public should know what kind of punishment the man who may have broken into their house is getting."

Mr. Greaves said that much has gone into the development of the Drug Court and that the "clients" in the program are given as much as a chance as possible to right their wrongs.

This is very important to them," he said. "We have about 80 percent of our clients that are doing very well. I'm hoping that we will have our first graduation by the end of the year. The graduation ceremony is very important to these people - they want to tell the story of how they have been sick and healed."