pressure to quit her post -- after she let slip the fact that she had considered abolishing a constitutional right for voters to appeal if they were not on the electoral register.

Mrs. Browne Evans made the remark during a House of Assembly debate on the Parliamentary Election Amendment Act last night in response to criticisms from Shadow Legislative Affairs Minister John Barritt.

MPs abolish annual voter registration: Full debate on Page 4 Mr. Barritt was criticising a clause in the bill which gave voters who found themselves crossed off the electoral register just seven days to appeal in the Supreme Court.

The bill, which abolishes the requirement for people to register to vote every year, passed the House of Assembly last night after a lengthy and often rancorous debate.

Mr. Barritt, along with several other Opposition MPs, argued that would not give people enough time to get their appeals heard before a General Election.

But Mrs. Browne Evans, who was controversially appointed to the post of Attorney General just last month, caused uproar among the Opposition benches by saying that she had earlier considered scrapping the right of appeal altogether.

"For years I did without an appeals court,'' she said. "While people were being tried for their lives there was no appeal -- you just took what the Chief Justice gave you. Everything has a political side to it.

Barritt criticises Browne Evans "But if I had any fear that the people would not accept this bill, we would never have brought it to this House.'' A stunned Mr. Barritt responded by saying Mrs. Browne Evans' comments had "sent shudders down my backbone''.

And after the session had finished, he confirmed that he was now considering calling for Mrs. Browne Evans to resign.

"She indicated that she was recommending to her colleagues scrapping the right of appeal altogether,'' Mr. Barritt said.

"I was taken aback that the Attorney General would not only say such a thing -- to deny people their right to appeal if they were aggrieved by a decision of the Parliamentary registrar, notwithstanding the time frame.

"I think it was shameful that the Attorney General, who is the first law officer of the land, would take such a position. It sent shudders down my back and I think the rest of the legal community will be concerned.

"I haven't had a chance to reflect but if that's going to be her modus operandi then she should consider resigning.

"She said it was political but that was never really explained. I suppose she was saying that expediency outweighs people's right to appeal. This just highlights the concerns we had at the time that political considerations will start to outweigh legal considerations.'' Last night Mrs. Browne Evans could not be contacted to comment on the matter.

Although both parties were in general agreement on the principles of the bill, which scraps the need for voters to register each year, there were several clashes during yesterday's debate, which went on for some seven hours.

VOTERS VOT ATTORNEY GENERAL AG