A lawsuit from a convicted murderer challenging a prison rule mandating supervised meetings between death row inmates and their lawyers is set to be determined on September 30. High Court judge Carol Gobin set the date during a hearing in the Port-of-Spain High Court on Tuesday, moments after she dismissed a preliminary application from Prisons Commissioner Conrad Barrow, who was asking for the lawsuit to be thrown out before the issue could be ventilated in court.
Barrow was claiming he should not have been named as a party in the lawsuit as it dealt with the constitutionality of the prisons regulations, “an area which falls out of his purview.” Delivering an oral decision, Gobin rejected Barrow’s claim as she stated the prisoner, Garvin Sookram, had raised a valid issue which required the court’s analysis. Sookram, an inmate at the Port-of-Spain State Prison, filed the lawsuit last year after prison officers sat in on several meetings with his lawyer Varun Debideen.
He is contending that Rule 296 (4) of the Prisons Rules which establishes the practice is unconstitutional as confidential communications between a person and his/her lawyer is an “inherent and fundamental right in a democratic and civilised society.” In response, Barrow’s lawyers have claimed the procedure was in the interest of institutional security and ensured the safety of not only inmates but legal advisers visiting inmates and prison staff.
They also claim that it is an essential element in preventing and in some cases intercepting prohibited items from being trafficked into prisons. Sookram, also known as ‘Beam,” is serving a life sentence for murdering Kerwin “Richie Rich” Hinds and Kerwyn “Ox” Cyrus. Both men were shot dead in a track near to their homes at Sawmill Avenue, Barataria, on July 28, 2004. Sookram was jointly charged with Keron Lopez for the crimes, with both men being convicted in March 2009.
Their appeals to the Court of Appeal and the Privy Council were both dismissed with the latter opting to commute their death sentences to life imprisonment because of the length of time between their convictions and the exhaustion their appeals. Sookram is also being represented by Gerald Ramdeen. Barrow’s legal team is being led by Senior Counsel Deborah Peake.