This was revealed by Justice Sharma on Monday in Port of Spain as he spoke in the presence of reporters.

"One school of thought is (I am just being academic in this sense) is that because prison conditions are so squalid and dehumanizing whether sentences should be shorter. You cannot punish a person twice. Each human being it must be recognized has dignity and no matter what he has done in life or how atrocious and vicious he has been in the past, he is to be treated with dignity as a human being," said Justice Sharma.

According to Justice Sharma, for this to be a reality the Judiciary and the Trinidad and Tobago's Prisoners Commissioner, John Rogier, will have to collaborate in working out the details for shorter prison terms.

Overcrowding, communicable diseases, poor quality food and unsanitary conditions at the prisons have been among the many concerns of prisoners and their representative attorneys.

Last week it was learnt that several women at the Golden Grove state prison in Arouca, east Trinidad, went on a hunger strike protesting poor prison conditions.

A San Fernando Judge last week was also forced to stop a murder trial when a woman, charged for killing her husband in November 2002, almost collapsed while giving evidence in court. She was one of several women at the prison who had been refusing to eat.

Her attorney later informed the judge that several other women at the prison had also been refusing to eat. The prison Authorities have so far not given an official response to the reported hunger strike.

Meanwhile, in a new move the authorities are also considering categorizing prisoners according to the gravity of their crimes. The is been viewed as part of a plan aimed at prisoner rehabilitation and prison reform.

In October last year a transformation team was also appointment to look for ways to improve the Trinidad and Tobago prison system.