Judge rules —

THE TRIBUNAL set up to review the cases of two murder convicts incarcerated at St Ann’s Hospital, was yesterday given permission by a Port-of-Spain judge to proceed with its two-stage procedure in the review.

Sitting in the Port-of-Spain Civil Court, Justice Rajendra Narine ruled against the application made by murder convicts Edmund Funrose and George Noriega, to have their attorneys present during the entire procedure of the reviews of their cases.

Funrose and Noriega were convicted of murder but declared insane at the time of the act. They were detained at the mental hospital and challenged the legality of their continued detention, before Justice Humphrey Stollmeyer, who ordered a speedy assessment and review of their mental conditions to determine suitability for release.

The judge also suggested the formation of a special tribunal to review the cases.

The tribunal, comprising Dr Rohit Doon, Dr Nellen Baboolal, Dr Gerard Hutchinson, Dr Hari Maharajh, Dr Balkaran Shivnauth, Dr Ian Hypolyte, Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls and Magistrates Lianne Lee Kim and Indra Ramoo-Haynes, was formed in 2003.

Doon, chairman of the tribunal, proposed a two-stage process in reviewing the men’s cases. The first stage involved a clinical assessment of the applicants in the absence of their attorneys. At the second stage the attorneys would be allowed to attend.

However, the men’s attorneys Mark Seepersad and Gerald Ramdeen contended that the absence of legal representation at the first stage would deprive their clients of natural justice and a fair hearing.

In handing down his judgment yesterday, Narine described the tribunal as “essentially a specialised panel, consisting largely of experts in the field of psychiatry.” He pointed out the concerns of Doon that the first stage of the review was a clinical assessment of the patients and should not be interrupted by third parties or any potentially disruptive influences.

The judge ruled the tribunal was free to determine its own procedure, having regard to its main objective — to carry out objective assessments of the patients.

As long as the tribunal’s discretion was properly exercised, Narine said, it would decide if and when legal representation would be allowed in the procedure.

Narine said the attorneys had failed to show that the proposed procedure was unfair or in breach of natural justice. Attorney Fyard Hosein SC appeared for the tribunal.