The offence of wandering abroad is to be scrapped, Human Affairs Minister and Deputy Premier Jerome Dill has revealed.

He said legislation abolishing it could be presented to MPs before Christmas.

Mr. Dill added wandering abroad was a hangover from slavery days and out of keeping with modern Bermuda.

"It was slaves who used to be prosecuted under this particular provision and it has very negative overtones,'' he said. "I believe there are currently sufficient laws dealing with vagrants.'' Last night Shadow Human Affairs Minister Ewart Brown welcomed the move.

"I think it's long overdue. The offence of wandering abroad is a waste of time. It has very negative connotations.'' In his 1992 report on Bermuda's criminal justice system, Judge Stephen Tumim, the Chief Inspector of Prisons in England and Wales, recommended the abolition of wandering abroad.

Mr. Dill was chairman of a Cabinet Committee formed to put in place Judge Tumim's proposals. Yesterday, he said he had asked the Commission for Unity and Racial Equality (CURE) to look into wandering abroad and laws which appeared to discriminate on the basis of race.

"CURE has reflected on it and now we believe it should be abolished. I think it's a sign that you have a progressive government in place that we are prepared to review legislation which has racial overtones. We are far more sensitive these days to such matters.'' Mr. Dill said: "This piece of legislation abolishing the offence should be straightforward and be ready relatively soon. It could go before Parliament before Christmas.

"Nothing will be put in its place. We are abolishing it on the basis that it's a carryover from a bygone era.'' Mr. Dill went on to defend Government's anti-racism stance from Opposition Progressive Labour Party criticism.

In the Throne Speech reply, Opposition Leader Jennifer Smith said: "By devoting a mere sentence to the subject of discrimination (via its promise to table a Code of Conduct), the Government is backing away from its stated intention to fight racism on every front.

"Despite the heavy flow of public relations material from CURE, the Government appears unwilling to tackle the problem of racism as it eats away at every aspect of Bermudian life.'' Yesterday, Dr. Brown said: "The Government's fight against racism is turning out to be not that at all.

"It's a strong public relations effort designed to convince people and encourage people but not penalise them as the United States system provides.'' Mr. Dill, however, said several anti-racism measures had been taken recently, including the production by CURE of manuals for dealing with discrimination in the workplace.

The Human Rights Act had also been amended to toughen the Country's stance against racism. And a Code of Conduct on racism in the workplace would be tabled in the House before Christmas, said Mr. Dill.

"You cannot state we are going soft on racism. Yes, we recognise we do have racism in Bermuda and we will deal with it.

"The new Code of Conduct won't have legal enforceability. Very few codes governing industrial relations in this Country are enforceable, and the unions and employers don't want them to be enforceable.

"My view is that the Opposition, rather than attempting to politicise the issue of racism and race relations, ought to be coming to me with their suggestions on what we can do together to deal with the issue.

"I'm very disappointed with the Opposition for not doing so. Yes, leadership is the obligation of Government, but the Opposition have obligations which extend beyond unconstructive criticism.''