lawyer and former MP Mr. Elliott Deighton Mottley QC as Bermuda's next Attorney General.

However, one lawyer expressed his disappointment that a Bermudian was not found for the $107,876-a-year job.

Governor Lord Waddington "consulted widely'' before appointing Mr. Mottley, 55, to the post, a Government spokesman said in a news release yesterday.

"Two applicants on the Island expressed interest in the post and both were interviewed,'' the spokesman said.

It is understood the two local applicants were former Crown counsel Mr. Robin McMillan and Solicitor General Mr. Barrie Meade, a Bermudian who has been acting Attorney General for the last two months following Mr. Walter Maddocks' early retirement.

Mr. Mottley, who is the former president of the Barbados Bar Association and has a private practice in his country, will take up the post next January 15.

Criminal lawyer Mr. Timothy Marshall welcomed the appointment of someone with "a great deal of courtroom experience''. He said it was critical the Crown had a good AG, because "it's the leader who sets the stage for everyone else''. However, Mr. Marshall called for Government to "examine why more Bermudian attorneys have not shown interest in the post''. He personally felt "a big factor'' was the salary -- when taking into account the high cost of living in Bermuda and the pay for comparable positions abroad. "Maybe it's time Government looks at the pay scales of top-level civil service appointments,'' he suggested.

Former AG Mr. Saul Froomkin conceded the pay was one of the reasons he left the post for a private law firm a few years ago. "Most Bermudians I know who are able aren't interested (in the AG post) because unfortunately even at that high rank the salaries are inadequate,'' he said.

With the exception of himself, who was given Bermuda status while serving as AG, there had "never been a Bermudian AG'', he said.

Mr. Froomkin also welcomed Mr. Mottley to the post, saying he was a "first-class lawyer''. He had recently worked with the Barbadian on a case in Anguilla and found him to be "very experienced with a very good reputation in the Caribbean.'' Former Bermuda Bar Association president Mrs. Dianna Kempe, who has met Mr.

Mottley, said, "I think he will be excellent for the job...With no disrespect to the former attorney general, I think there are certain things you can bring to the job if you are prepared to go to court.'' Mrs. Kempe has just been appointed secretary general of the International Bar Association

2 Mottley is Island's new AG From Page 1 and is the managing partner of Appleby Spurling and Kempe.

Bermuda Bar Association president Mr. John Cooper said he was not all that familiar with Mr. Mottley but the association wished him well.

Mr. Mottley, a British-trained lawyer, was president of the Barbados Bar Association from 1980 to 1983. He also headed the Organisation of Caribbean Bar Associations from 1980 to last year. And in 1980 he was appointed a member of the Barbados Judicial Advisory Council.

Mr. Mottley, whose daughter Mia is the education minister under the new Barbados government, served as a member of Parliament representing the Bridgetown constituency for the Barbados Labour Party from 1969 to 1976. In 1976 he was appointed Barbados Consul General in the United States.

"Mr. Mottley has wide experience in the Caribbean and has appeared on behalf of the governments in cases in Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands and Montserrat,'' the Government spokesman stated. "He has extensive experience of criminal law.'' Commenting on a recent Privy Council decision to commute the death sentences of two Jamaican murderers who had been on death row in Barbados for 14 years, Mr. Mottley said, "You can't keep people languishing... on death row.'' According to reports obtained by The Royal Gazette he said the Council found that hanging was not inhumane but to delay carrying out executions was.

A special selection committee was appointed to find a new AG. It was headed by Deputy Governor Mr. Peter Willis and included Cabinet Secretary Mr. Leo Mills, lawyer Mrs. Elizabeth Jones and Chief Justice the Hon. Mr. Austin Ward.

Mr. Meade announced he had not been named to the post at a meeting of the Attorney General's Chambers staff on late Friday afternoon.

He had been acting Attorney General since July 31 when Mr. Maddocks retired early following a rash of Crown counsel departures from his chambers and amid reports of disaffection among lawyers.