Dana Saroop Seetahal SC (8 July 1955 – 4 May 2014) was a Trinidad and Tobago lawyer and politician. She served as an Independent Senator in the Senate. She was an attorney at law in private practice and was formerly a lecturer at the Hugh Wooding Law School, Trinidad and Tobago, where she held the position of Course Director in Criminal Practice and Procedure. She was assassinated in Port of Spain on 4 May 2014.

Life

Dana Saroop Seetahal was born on 8 July 1955, in Trinidad and Tobago. She was the eighth of eleven children born to Latchman and Sarjudeya Saroop Seetahal who were of Indian descent. She attended primary school in El Dorado Village, Tunapuna opposite Aramalaya Presbyterian Church. In 1965 she won a scholarship to attend Bishop Anstey High School in Port of Spain. In 1973 she went on to University and received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of the West Indies. In 1977 she attended Hugh Wooding Law School. She graduated and was called to the bar in 1979. After graduating she worked in the Solicitor General's Department, Magistrate, State Prosecutor, Private Practice in Justitia Omnibus. In 2002 she was appointed an Independent Senator in the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago. She was awarded the status of 'Senior Counsel' in 2006.

Education

Career

After passing the bar Dana Seetahal worked as a State Prosecutor from 1980 to 1987. She prosecuted cases in the magistrates’ courts and later in the High Court. She performed as a Magistrate for one year from 1987 to 1988 but preferred prosecuting. As a magistrate she tried chiefly criminal cases at the summary level and presided at Juvenile Court. Acted as a coroner in inquests and conducted preliminary inquiries in indictable trials. In 1988 she returned as a Senior State Prosecutor and from 1988 to 1991 she acted as assistant director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). She prosecuted indictable cases (felonies) at the High Court and appeared for the State in criminal matters at the Court of Appeal. Advised the Police and other government departments on criminal matters. Lectured to the police, state and non-governmental organizations, such as Rotary Clubs. She became a Course Director and Senior Lecturer at Hugh Wooding Law School from 1995 to 2007. She taught and did research in the courses of Criminal Practice & Procedure, the Law of Evidence for ten Caribbean jurisdictions & Legal Drafting. She was first appointed to Parliament in April 2002 as an Independent Senator in the 7th Republican Parliament. She was again appointed an Independent Senator in the 8th and 9th Parliaments (October 2002 to April 2010). She was not re-appointed to the 10th Parliament. In January 2006 she was made a Senior Counsel ("took silk"). Her first contribution in the Senate was on The Appropriation Bill, 2003 on 28 October 2002. As a Senior Counsel in Private Practice she acted as Defence counsel appearing in criminal appellate and trial cases, Special Prosecutor for the State in a variety of matters, public law matters, consultancies in criminal matters, negotiation. In 2008 she opened her own private chambers "El Dorado Chambers" located in Port of Spain, Trinidad, comprising 3 other lawyers and students. She wrote a weekly column for the Saturday Express, having previously written for "The Guardian", both local newspaper in Trinidad and Tobago.

Awards and honours

Works

Her first book the'Commonwealth Caribbean on Criminal Procedure' is the first of its kind to be published. Its credibility is supported not only by her theoretical knowledge, but also her practical knowledge earned over twenty years of experience in the field: as a prosecutor for over a dozen years, as a magistrate, as a criminologist, a criminal justice consultant and finally as a law school lecturer. "This book fills a lacuna in Commonwealth Caribbean jurisprudence in that there is currently no local or regional text on criminal practice and procedure. The content of the book includes both the statute law and common law on criminal practice and procedure in most of the relevant jurisdictions, which include Trinidad Tobago, Guyana, Barbados, Jamaica and Grenada among others." "Revised throughout, this new edition addresses the recent changes in law in St Lucia and the Bahamas bringing this popular text right up-to-date. Although written for law students, as the only book which deals specifically with criminal practice and procedure in the Caribbean, it is also a useful reference tool for criminal justice professionals." The third edition of this book was released in July 2010, and contains a new chapter on extradition. Regional Issues of Justice and Governance- Ambassador Colin Granderson and Miss Dana Seetahal.

Publications

Consultancies and special projects

Death

On 4 May 2014, at 12:05am, Seetahal was assassinated while driving her Volkswagen Touareg SUV in the vicinity of the Woodbrook Youth Club, Port of Spain, Trinidad. She was shot five times. On 24 July 2015, 11 men were arrested and charged with her murder.