QUEENS Counsel Tajmool Hosein has died at the age of 92.

Hosein was the last surviving member of the delegation that attended the famed Malborough House conference in England in 1962 to formulate the Constitution, ahead of the country gaining its independence.

He was also a member of the board of the Trinidad Express Newspapers and the father of attorney Faarees Hosein, board member of Caribbean Communications Network (CCN), parent company of the Express and TV6.

One Caribbean Media's (OCM) group chief executive officer Dawn Thomas said yesterday that Hosein was a founding director and investor of the 45-year-old Express.

"He served as chairman for several years with distinction and has contributed in a meaningful way to the success of the Express. His passing is a great loss to Trinidad and Tobago," said Thomas. CCN is a member of the OCM group.

Former Express managing director and CCN chairman, Ken Gordon, who worked with Hosein back in the 70s and 80s when he (Hosein) was an Express director, described Hosein as "an exemplary patriot whose great abilities as a leader, lawyer, politician and thinker has left the country so much better for having had such a son".

Gordon, now Integrity Commission chairman, said they faced several issues in the running of the Express, but "through it all, I never lost one iota of respect for this truly outstanding man".

Originally from Williamsville near Princes Town, Hosein qualified as a barrister in 1946 and became an expert in constitutional law.

In 1961, he joined the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) and stood as a candidate for Chaguanas in the elections that year. He won the seat and served as Member of Parliament for Chaguanas between 1961 and 1966.

Hosein was awarded Silk in 1964 and the Trinity Cross in 1982. He declined the offer to become Chief Justice, and President of the Caribbean Court of Justice, according to those close to him.

Last May, Hosein spoke with the Express about his role in 1962.

Hosein said, "I did what was necessary to ensure that the conference (the Malborough House conference) was successful and that the people of Trinidad and Tobago would be the beneficiary of what arrangements we were about to embark upon."

Against such a background, Hosein said, "We sat from day-to-day examining every detail, every provision, and every loophole in the Constitution."

Hosein told the Express he had studied constitutional law after he graduated from Lincoln's Inn, and it was this that helped him to play such a meaningful role at the conference.