A multimillion-dollar high-security courtroom being built for next year's Air India trial in Vancouver is facing design problems, and probably won't be ready in time to begin the case.

Three men will face charges for what was the world's worst act of aviation terrorism prior to Sept. 11. In June of 1985, Air India Flight 182 exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ireland, killing 229 people.

Ripudaman Singh Malik, Ajaib Singh Bagri and Inderjit Singh Reyat are charged with conspiring to bomb the flight.

The three men charged in the Air India crash
The three men charged in the Air India crash

After the terrorist attacks in Washington and New York, trial organizers decided that B.C.'s new "Courtroom 20" needed more changes to further beef up security.

B.C.'s Attorney General Geoff Plant says the changes to the $5 million courtroom will bring the total cost to $7.2 million. The additional construction will also delay the finish date until April 15, while the court case is scheduled to begin on Feb. 4.

Plant says the official trial date is still in February, but hearings will take place in a lower security courtroom.

"If the judge deciding in the case makes the decision he's not comfortable doing it in the other courtroom I'm sure the parties will have to accommodate that decision," says Plant.

The new courtroom will house dozens of lawyers, reporters and victims' families.

The trial is expected to be the longest and most complex trial in Canadian history.