Government tabled a bill to abolish special juries in Parliament on Friday.

It follows the Justice System Review earlier this year which sought to modernise Bermuda?s laws.

A Bill entitled The Criminal Code Amendment (No. 3) Act was tabled before the House of Assembly by Telecommunications Minister Michael Scott on behalf of the Attorney General Senator Larry Mussenden.

A Government Press release said the introduction of the Bill is one of the first steps in tackling laws deemed to be unfair, unnecessary and even racist in Bermuda?s justice system.

The Bill will repeal section 518(4) of the Criminal Code Act 1907 that makes provision for special juries in criminal trials.

The Criminal Code 1907 allows a special jury compromised of experts rather ordinary people be used in complicated cases such as those involving technical knowledge or examination of books, accounts or documents.

The Royal Commission on Crime Report 1979 and the Justice System Review Committee both recommended special juries should be abolished however the Press release said ways of excluding black jurors were abolished in Bermuda in 1951.

The statement said special juries were a relic of the past when it was thought jurors from ordinary walks of life could not handle complex cases and so was an insult to the intelligence of Bermudians.