Former Attorney General (AG) Saul Froomkin has countered suggestions Bermuda should get rid of the Privy Council as the highest Court of Appeal.

Mr. Froomkin, a partner at Mello, Hollis, Jones and Martin, told Hamilton Rotarians yesterday that he was "firmly opposed to any suggestion that we abolish the right to appeal to the Privy Council''.

In doing so he came down on the same side of the fence as the current AG, Dame Lois Browne Evans, who has also downplayed the idea.

And Mr. Froomkin told The Royal Gazette that he did not think Britain's colonies could "unilaterally'' pull themselves from under the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council's umbrella.

The Canadian-born lawyer first came to Bermuda in 1979 as the Solicitor General after 15 years practising in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and as counsel in the Department of Justice in Ottawa, Ontario.

Mr. Froomkin was Bermuda's AG from 1981 to 1991 and is qualified to practise law in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Anguilla, England and Wales.

He said the Judicial Committee exercised "the ancient jurisdiction of the King in Council'' or the prerogative right of the sovereign.

In 1931, the independent countries of the Commonwealth, Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa -- in those days called Dominions -- were able to end or restrict appeals to the Committee.

In the wave of independence victories in the 1950s and 1960s, newly formed countries have been able to reject the courts as its final arbiter.

It does not itself make a judgment, Mr. Froomkin explained, but advises the Queen on what are proper principles of justice in law, who, as is the custom, acts on that advice.

But it is not solely made up of legal minds from the UK. Membership includes privy councillors from various countries, including Australia, Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, the Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.

"Accordingly, it cannot be said that the Judicial Committee is an English court,'' Mr. Froomkin added.

In Bermuda law, it is the court of final judgment for both civil and criminal matters.

Any appeal of a decision by the Court of Appeals in a criminal matter has to be approved by the Judicial Committee itself and, if that fails, by the Privy Council as a whole.

Only matters of legal process, violation of natural justice or substantial and grave injustice can be appealed.

The call for abandonment of the Judicial Committee in the Caribbean has come in reaction to decisions it has made.

Mr. Froomkin gave details of two of these decisions, one of which saw a man's death warrant rejected after 16 years on death row.

"Those cases and others raised the ire of many in the Caribbean who felt that murderers who were rightly sentenced to death should not have their sentences commuted,'' he said.

Mr. Froomkin added some thought the judges in London were "too far removed from the reality of life in the West Indies with their high rate of crime and limited resources''.

Lawyer warns against ditching Privy Council appeal would be counterproductive, Mr. Froomkin said.

In Bermuda, capital punishment has been abolished and it would be foolhardy to expect the new court to have the same stature and "similar quality and independence'' as the old court.

Mr. Froomkin also said seeing the Judicial Committee as a "remnant of colonialism or British imperialism'' ignored the fact that all of the Island's concepts of justice and law were also "remnants of that regime''. Precedent is also set in England and Wales.

Also international business "needs to be assured'' it can resort to an independent body with a breadth of experience, "total independence'' and aloofness from local politics.

"Last year, the Attorney General, the Honourable Dame Lois Browne Evans, was quoted as supporting retention of the right of appeal to the Privy Council,'' he concluded. "I am pleased to support her in that view.'' When asked about overseas territories joining another appeals court, Mr.

Froomkin said: "Unilaterally? No. They would have to make an application to Her Majesty's Government.

"London may be quite happy to do that once the issue has been raised,'' he added.

Mr. Froomkin said there may be room for movement under civil law, explaining there were instances where imperial statutes gave some powers to high courts during the days of the Dominions.

Criminal matters in colonies are part of the "royal prerogative'' and come directly under the Crown.

"No, I don't think the discussion is moot at all,'' Mr. Froomkin explained.

"I just don't think Bermuda or any of the other overseas territories can do it unilaterally.''