Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza and his eldest son could be delayed until after Easter.

This is due to the fact that Chief Justice Austin Ward -- the man who would make any decision on the case -- has just gone on holiday.

And it could take months for a new judge to be brought up to speed with the complex case which has tens of thousands of legal documents on file.

But all sides in the complex legal wrangle for the $2.7 billion Thyssen-Bornemisza conglomerate agree that a new judge should be appointed as soon as possible.

Justice Ward will have to look at an order entered by Michael Crystal QC in open court and agreed to by the other parties and Justice Denis Mitchell before the court closed yesterday.

This adjourned the hearing, gave the parties liberty to apply for directions (from the courts) and reserved the cost of the trial.

Justice Ward will have to make the final decisions on what will happen when he returns about a new judge and on costs of the trial so far.

It is expected he will wait until after Easter before hearing any petitions on the matter.

The Baron Thyssen's statement said that he was disappointed that, so far into the trial, a situation has arisen where Mr. Mitchell was unable to continue hearing the case to its conclusion.

"The trial will now have to start again before a new judge. There will, however, inevitably be some delay before a new judge is appointed.'' It added: "Even when there is a new judge and the trial recommences it will take several months before the new judge reaches the same stage of the trial as Mr. Justice Mitchell had reached. This delay is unfair to all the parties.

"Justice delayed is justice denied. The loss to the parties runs to tens of millions of dollars. The wasted costs dwarf the additional costs of agreeing to a new package for the judge.'' David Kessaram, Managing Partner of Cox Hallett Wilkinson, who act for the Baron's son Georg and have just started their opening, said: "Naturally, our whole legal team (Cox Hallett Wilkinson, Serle Court and Clifford Chance) is deeply disappointed with this turn of events.

"We have put in a great deal of time and effort to get to this stage of the trial. We are also extremely concerned how this news may be viewed internationally.'' Jeremy Sandelson of Clifford Chance said: "It is a matter of great regret that the case cannot continue in front of the Judge as it means that Heini Junior will have to wait to show that the claims against him are wholly without merit and should be dismissed.'' The corporate defendants -- Favorita Holdings Ltd, Thybo Trustees Ltd and Tornabuoni Ltd., have not yet been able to have their say in court.

They represent the trustees and protectors of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Continuity Trust, which set up by the Baron to house the family fortune and ironically to stop any disputes and claims on it.

Antony Dutton, partner at Norton Rose who has been acting on behalf of the second, third and fourth corporate defendants was critical of the prosecution for taking such a long time to finish their opening statements.

Mr. Dutton said: "The fact that the delays, which have created this unfortunate situation, are largely attributable to the plaintiffs whose conduct of the case prevented its commencement until October 1999 and whose opening speech was allowed to spread over nearly 15 months and was not concluded until 16 January 2001.'' He said: "The trustees and protectors are defendants in this litigation and it is the last thing that they wanted. When they were sued on what they regarded as wholly unmeritorious claims they were obliged to defend themselves.

"The inordinate length of this litigation cannot be attributed to the conduct of the corporate defendants who have hitherto had almost no opportunity since the commencement of the trial on October 11, 1999 to develop their case in open court.'' He added that the corporate defendants sought to cut short the litigation by a strike out application in June last year, which has not been heard.