A new commercial court is to be set up to deal with trade disputes, the Chief Justice has confirmed.

The court will resolve business cases and is expected to mainly handle complaints involving the Island?s huge insurance and reinsurance industry.

Chief Justice Richard Ground has the power to assign judges ? who will be called commercial judges ? to try such cases.

The creation of a commercial court is part of a series of rule changes designed to modernise the day to day workings of the Supreme Court.

Drawn up by senior legal officials, they will come into effect on January 1 and update existing rules that came into force 20 years ago.

Other legal changes include an ?over-riding objective?, enshrining the main aim of the court to deal with cases fairly, save expense and come to a verdict as quickly as possible.

Government spokesman John Burchall said: ?Although these principles have always been implicit in the administration of justice, it is felt by spelling them out they can be more readily understood and applied.?

Another change will see a modern costs system introduced. This will enable the winning party to recover a ?realistic portion? of their legal expenses.

The majority of fixed scales of allowable expenses will be swept aside and the court registrar will have the final say on what legal expenses should be allowed.

The new rules also bring Bermuda into line with other worldwide commercial centres, updating the guidelines governing when the court can serve proceedings out of its jurisdiction.

They also contain new requirements on the preparation of trial evidence bundles and the exchange of witness statements.