33 opportunity for an individual accused of a capital offence to be assessed by a psychiatrist. Moreover, there are no available facilities to carry out psychiatric counselling, interviews and basic medical examinations. The expert recommended that the State implement improved strategies for the medical and psychological examination and investigation of criminal offenders in Trinidad and Tobago, especially in death penalty cases, in view of the fact that mental disorders or problems can be extremely relevant to the determination of culpability. c) Barrister Gaietry Pargass 87 spoke of the conditions of detention in the prisons of Trinidad and Tobago, reforms which should be made to the procedure for requesting legal aid and the conditions surrounding the execution of convicted persons in Trinidad in Tobago. With respect to the conditions of detention in the remand prison of Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago, there is extreme overcrowding with up to fourteen prisoners per cell, measuring ten by nine feet. In certain cases there is not enough space to lie down to sleep, thus forcing some prisoners to sleep sitting or standing up. They remain in these conditions for a period of two to six years, which is the average time spent in pre-trial detention. In addition, she stated that in that particular prison, instead of proper toilet facilities, there is a single bucket (slop pail) for an entire cell, which is emptied twice a day. Moreover, prisoners spend twenty-three hours in their cells except for a few minutes when they leave to eat. They are only allowed to go outside for exercise approximately three times a week due to the shortage of prison officers to supervise. The expert witness clarified that the situation for those sentenced to death is somewhat different since they are assigned one cell per person. According to the rules of the prison, these prisoners should be allowed out of their cells to get fresh air and exercise for one hour a day; however, in practice this never happens. Also, there have been complaints regarding the poor quality of food and the lack of ventilation in the cells, as well as a lack of light that leads to vision complications, eye pain, and a general deterioration in the prisoners' vision. With respect to pre-execution procedure, the prison superintendent reads the prisoners the death warrants. They are then taken to other cells in a section called "F2" that is very close to the execution chamber. On the wall and door of the execution chamber there are drawings of a figure with a rope around its neck and a message that reads: "You have come here to be executed." This both terrorizes and depresses the prisoners—others cannot sleep due to nightmares, much less eat. In addition, there are periodic checks of the prisoners' weight and they are asked about their favourite meals as part of their last wishes. 87 In her written expert report submitted to the Court on January 22, 2002 (supra para. 48), Gaietry Pargass indicated that her report is based on her personal experience as an attorney-at-law and as representative of the London Panel in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as on interviews with death row inmates, prison personnel and others, mainly from the Golden Grove Prison in Arouca. In her report, expert Pargass analysed the prison system in Trinidad and Tobago, access to prisoners by their attorneys, and the detention conditions of both prisoners on death row and other inmates generally, mainly in relation to the State Prison in Port of Spain and the Golden Grove Prison in Arouca. Cf. Filed as "Expert Witness Report from Gaietry Pargass on Conditions of Detention in Trinidad and Tobago," supra note 75, pp. 1-72.