MPs passed a bill to protect magistrates from lawsuits Friday.

The Magistrates Amendment Act 2009 was approved in the House of Assembly, together with the Law Reform Commission Act 2009 and Motor Car Amendment (No. 3) Act 2009.

The Magistrates Amendment Bill stated: "This Bill seeks to modernise the law relating to the judicial immunity of Magistrates and to confer on them the same protection from civil and criminal suit presently enjoyed by superior court judges in respect of decisions made in the exercise of their judicial functions.

"The present law is unsatisfactory in that Magistrates, including lay justices, may be personally sued, albeit that they acted in good faith in the exercise of their judicial functions.

"Their potential criminal liability is unclear. The present state of the law compromises the judicial independence of Magistrates, and is inconsistent with the spirit of Bermuda's Constitution."

The Act repeals Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the Protection of Justices Act 1987.