HONG Kong's international standing and the administration of justice will be hurt by court delays, the chairman of the Bar Association has warned. Jacqueline Leong, QC, called for more recorders to take on the work of High Court judges. Recorders are barristers who spend four to six weeks a year over a period of three years acting as High Court judges. ''This was agreed a year ago but we have yet to see it put into action,'' she said. Another demand Miss Leong made was for more cash from the Finance Committee to pay for more efficient transcribing during court cases and the staff needed to carry it out. She said more attention could be paid to the allocation of cases so judges specialising in certain areas could practise that specialisation. ''People are waiting eight to 10 months, which is an extremely long time. In some of the criminal cases, people are in custody for that period,'' she said. ''There is an emphasis on clearing criminal cases at the moment to try to stop them from being aborted, which means civil cases lose out. This affects Hong Kong's commercial life. ''There is a need for an efficient legal system if Hong Kong is to retain its international position now and in the future. We have seen nothing to encourage us. No substantial measures have been taken. ''As the people have grown more sophisticated, the amount of litigation has increased. The judiciary has not grown with it.'' Miss Leong said one of the reasons for the delays was, paradoxically, one of the measures brought in to try to alleviate the problem - double listing. Under this system, designed to make fuller use of judicial time, two cases are listed for every judge available. However, it is necessary for one to collapse in order for the system to work. Another area of concern is what many perceive to be a lack of High Court judges and also their antiquated practices, such as taking notes by hand during hearings. Not only did this prolong cases unnecessarily, it also wasted police officers' and other witnesses' time as they waited to give evidence. The result was a rise in the cost of the proceedings. Another fault was that cases were kept out of the High Court to prevent backlogs. This led to backlogs in the District Court. To alleviate that, cases which should be heard in the District Court were being kept in magistrates' courts, which led to more backlogs there. The result was inadequate justice, Miss Leong said. A spokesman for the Judiciary said: ''We are aware of the concerns raised. We are attempting to improve matters.''