only too well that chairman Justice Stanley Moore is a vocal man with an obvious love for the law.

Every word from his mouth is deliberately chosen and every sentence carefully constructed in a way that must be taught in law school as only barristers and judges seem to have mastered it.

He would openly admit that he would sooner use 15 words than one.

But that is hardly surprising for a man who lists his two main loves as writing and public speaking.

Mr. Moore did not turn his hand to law until he was 35 after working first as a primary school teacher, Customs officer and then trainee director for the Bookar group of companies.

He said he always knew his interest lay in the legal field, but felt unable to leave his home to study. It was only after taking his career in a number of different directions that he decided the right route was to the Bar.

He was born in Guyana, but left in the 1960s to study law at University College of London, where he did a Master's degree in law before doing his Bar training at Lincoln's Inn.

He went straight into private practice on his return home, and there began a career that would see him become a partner in a law firm as well as a Supreme Court Judge and Attorney General.

His main love was defence work, but he would also prosecute on an ad hoc basis when asked and required.

And after just about nine successful years working as an barrister, he was appointed as a High Court judge presiding at criminal sessions for a three-month stint.

The 66-year-old said: `I went into law in the roundabout route. I was always interested in it from being a child, but one of the reasons I suppose I went about that round about route is that I did not wish to leave my mother who had been a widow for many years.

"With the benefit of hindsight, I should have left home at 18 and gone to England, but I don't think it did me any harm.'' The father of five, who is also a grandfather, remained in private practice until 1990, while also serving as a Government Minister in Guyana, before being appointed Attorney General of Montserrat.

He remained in that post for two years, then becoming a judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.

While there he became a member of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, which is responsible for appointing judges.

And he also became a member of the Judicial Education Institute, responsible for conducting ongoing training for judges and magistrates, and a fellow of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute.

On reaching the age of 65 earlier this year, he was reluctantly forced to retire from the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, so instead took up a post in the Bahamas, where the retirement age is higher.

He said: "I enjoy working. I would be utterly bored without it. I like law -- I enjoy reading about and dealing with legal issues.

"It's a very stimulating exercise and I like the analytical challenge.

"It gives me the opportunity to do what I like to do best, which is writing and speaking.'' Legal passion: Stanley Moore