A leading Bermuda lawyer has slammed the Government for introducing a law that will mean hundreds of parking offenders will have to pay their penalties.

And lawyer Phil Perinchief says he will challenge the new legislation when he attends court with his own clients who face summons to go back before magistrates.

Mr. Perinchief believes the Traffic Offences Procedure Validation Act 1998 is a bad law and unconstitutional, as well as being unfair on the people who had previously thought their parking matters had been dealt with.

He says Parliament had effectively stood the law on its head by attempting to validate procedural law over substantive law.

"It is like attempting to resuscitate a corpse by blowing oxygen into its lungs,'' he said.

He added that it was also unfair to haul people back to court, when they had been dismissed through no fault of their own.

"It is a very sneaky thing to do, these people had been exonerated. It is very bad that the Government should attempt to do that -- where does it stop? I will challenge it.'' On Monday night the Senate passed the Act, which meant that people who had received parking violations and had come to court after the six month period had expired and who had been sent away, would now be called back to court.

"It is reprehensible, some of these come well after a year of the alleged incidents -- who can remember where or whether or not they parked their car.

It is an enterprise of dishonesty on the part of the Government,'' said Mr.

Perinchief.