A probe into the handling of the murder of a Canadian schoolgirl in Bermuda should get underway as soon as possible, Opposition Legislative Affairs spokesman John Barritt said yesterday.

And he added it was "disappointing'' that -- seven weeks after a Commission of Inquiry was announced -- the investigation had not yet begun.

Mr. Barritt said: "I understand Government House is still in the process of making appointments.

"It's regrettable it's taking so long without an explanation -- it's starting to give the appearance that we're dragging our feet.

"We all know what prompted the inquiry -- the murder of Rebecca Middleton and subsequent prosecutions.

"This is the very least we can do and I hope those watching us from outside Bermuda are not thinking the less of us for the delay.'' Mr. Gurney said the Commission will include a senior judge and Police officer, both from overseas, as well as a Bermudian representative.

He added that signing up one of the overseas experts for the inquiry was still being worked on.

Mr. Gurney said: "I know Mr. Barritt is concerned but there has been no feet-dragging. We've been extremely busy trying to sound out suitable candidates -- and inevitably, some said they were committed elsewhere.'' And he added that he hoped that the final member of the Commission will be appointed within the next two or three weeks.

Governor Thorold Masefield announced last month that a probe into the investigation and prosecution of serious crime in Bermuda would be held.

The decision was taken after a meeting of the Governor's Council, a group of Ministers called together to advise the Queen's representative.

The inquiry was triggered in the wake of controversy over the handling of the brutal murder of Ms Middleton in 1996.

The Canadian visitor was tortured, raped and stabbed to death on Ferry Reach in St. George's.

Police arrested Justis Smith and Jamaican national Kirk Mundy days after the horror killing.

Mundy later pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and was jailed for five years.

But after DNA evidence became available, prosecutors tried unsuccessfully to re-charge Mundy with murder.

Murder accused Smith walked free from court in December, 1998, after Puisne Judge Vincent Meerabux ruled that there was no case to answer and that there had been an abuse of process.

That decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal -- but lawyers acting for Smith successfully appealed to Bermuda's final court, the Privy Council in London, which ruled last month that he could not be tried again.

The inquiry team will have the power to compel people involved in the case to give evidence, including now-Director of Public Prosecutions Khamisi Tokunbo.

But then-Attorney General Elliott Mottley, who quit his job to return to Barbados, and former Police Commissioner Colin Coxall, now back in England, cannot be forced to attend because they are not within the jurisdiction of Bermuda courts.