Day 082 - 01 Feb 95 - Page 02
1 Wednesday, 1st February 1995.
2
3 MS. STEEL: I think we are going to wait until after Richard
4 North has given evidence.
5
6 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Explain what you mean by that. I was going
7 to ask you, the first question, it seemed to me, was
8 whether you wished to call Mr. Clark. Is what you are
9 saying that you may want to but you want to wait until
10 Mr. North has given evidence before you make a decision?
11
12 MS. STEEL: Yes.
13
14 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I am, of course, in the same position in
15 that case. It may very well be that I shall call Mr.
16 Clark, or ask your Lordship's leave to call Mr. Clark, if
17 Mr. North departs from what is in his statement.
18
19 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You are certainly entitled to take the course
20 of not making a decision on what you would like to do were
21 it in your power to do it until after you call Mr. North
22 because at the moment you just have an indication or you
23 know that Mr. Rampton is not going to call Mr. Clark
24 today. Is the best thing, therefore, to put the whole
25 matter over and any arguments and considerations which may
26 arise until Mr. North has given his evidence?
27
28 MS. STEEL: Yes. I do not think there is anything we can
29 discuss now on that front.
30
31 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No. You would be in a better position
32 -- Mr. Clark will have gone home. If you want to call him
33 it may very well be a question of applying to me for one of
34 those special subpoenas we looked at the provision for.
35
36 MR. MORRIS: He is out of the jurisdiction, is he not?
37
38 MR. JUSTICE BELL: He is out of the jurisdiction but parts of
39 the United Kingdom which are not within the jurisdiction of
40 this court have a special provision which you looked at
41 very quickly last night, not the same as going to France or
42 the United States or something like that. I have to say,
43 in the light of way things have panned out, if after
44 Mr. North was called Mr. Rampton said that he did want to
45 call Mr. Clark after all, all I can say is, without having
46 heard any argument, I might well agree to that.
47
48 You would then have the opportunity of cross-examining
49 Mr. Clark which might suit you better, but if I did accede
50 to any such application by Mr. Rampton, what you would have
51 lost, if we can look at it from that aspect for the moment,
52 is the opportunity of not having Mr. Clark's evidence in
53 the case at all. Do you see what I mean?
54
55 MS. STEEL: Yes.
56
57 MR. JUSTICE BELL: But, if I may say so, the approach you are
58 taking seems sensible. We can pick it up again after
59 Mr. North has given his evidence. Is there anything more
60 you want to say on that now?