The UBP are accusing Government of pulling a political ploy by rushing through legislation to abolish special juries.

Opposition Whip John Barritt said yesterday in the House of Assembly: ?It is distasteful to do this today when there is an application out for a special jury.

?The people of this country are invited to connect the dots.?

Yesterday in the House, the Criminal Code Amendment (No. 3) Act 2004 which repeals special juries in criminal trials was passed.

The special juries, which are a set a persons chosen by a revising tribunal, have been branded unfair, unnecessary and even racist.

The timing for the legislation seems suspicious because the DPP has made an application to have a special jury in lawyer Julian Hall?s March 2005 trial, Opposition MPs charged.

Hall is charged with stealing more than $500,000 from a widow. The former PLP MP had pleaded not guilty to stealing $551,044.07 from Betty Loraine McMahon between November 8, 1995 and February 20, 1996.

Director of Public Prosecutions Vinette Graham-Allen confirmed there was an application before the court for a special jury of experts to hear the case.

The Criminal Code 1907 allowed for 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.

Mr. Barritt said: ?When you rush a bill and cherry pick it out of all of the recommendations ? it undercuts the DPP.?

He also pointed out other judicial topics that he felt were more important to amend such as giving the prosecution the same right of appeal as the defence, implementing a witness protection programme and improvements to the Bail Act and PACE Act.

Lawyer and Minister of Telecommunications and E-Commerce Michael Scott said: ?A hand picked jury is wrong in principle and in law.?

He said it was ?nonsense? that the Opposition accused the Government of bringing the legislation to the House because an application was currently before the courts to obtain permission for a special jury.

He added that the accusation was ?grossly unobjective and an unfounded slight on Government because they (Opposition) have no proof?.

The legislation was brought to the House because of its unfairness with regard to criminal trials, said Mr. Scott.

?It is important to remove offensive provisions from the landscape of the criminal justice system ? namely special juries,? he said.

?The special juries, which have not been used much and for a good reason, because they are naturally offensive to the sense of justice and fairness of right thinking people.?

Special juries were repealed in England in 1949, and in Bermuda in 1951, however, they were brought back to Bermuda in 1971 under the Jurors Act.