Day 127 - 23 May 95 - Page 05

     
     1        sought even half a day adjournment because of his needs.
     2        But the situation now is, obviously, I am compelled to look
     3        after him because of these circumstances and that is the
     4        situation this week.  Following -----
     5
     6   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Let us just think about this week because
     7        I am not treating this matter as black or white and with an
     8        obvious conclusion one way or another, but is Mrs. Barnes
     9        here today, Mr. Rampton?
    10
    11   MR. RAMPTON:  Yes, my Lord.
    12
    13   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You previously gave a estimate of a day
    14        in-chief.
    15
    16   MR. RAMPTON:  Yes.  I shall be a day in-chief.
    17
    18   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  But let us take it step by step.  There is,
    19        therefore, on the assumption that today you wish to go back
    20        to look after your son, the possibility of starting
         Mrs. Barnes' evidence-in-chief and completing it either
    22        this afternoon or sometime tomorrow morning.  You will have
    23        this evening a CaseView account of today's proceedings and
    24        you will have tomorrow a transcript from it.  So you are
    25        not deprived of knowing verbatim what she has said.
    26
    27        I am prepared to accept that you personally have a special
    28        interest in the employment issues in the case, but both you
    29        and Ms. Steel have considerable experience in
    30        cross-examining now, and she has shown already because she
    31        has taken some part in the cross-examination of the
    32        employment witnesses who have been called so far,
    33        Mr. Atherton, Mr. Nicholson, Mr. Beavers -- I say
    34        employment witnesses, but witnesses whose evidence in part
    35        at least relates to employment -- she has shown that she is
    36        acquainted with the issues and the information at your
    37        disposal by participating in that cross-examination.
    38
    39        But the normal way of proceeding is where there is more
    40        than one defendant, for the Defendants to cross-examine any
         Plaintiffs' witness in order, that is Ms. Steel would
    42        cross-examine first and complete her cross-examination, and
    43        ask any question she wished to ask on any matter which she
    44        thought related to her case.  In fact, you have a common
    45        cause, it seems to me, on every issue in the case, apart,
    46        perhaps, from aspects of the issue as to publication and
    47        maybe some matters in relation to counterclaim, I do not
    48        know.  So she would normally complete her cross-examination
    49        and you would then ask such questions as remained to be
    50        asked you thought on your own behalf. 
    51 
    52        I have been prepared not to follow that in this case 
    53        purely, really, for reasons of convenience because I could
    54        see that Ms. Steel would cover topics in her
    55        cross-examination and then when you came to cross-examine,
    56        because there was something extra you want to ask on topics
    57        which had already been covered, we would be going back to
    58        them, whereas if you cross-examine in harness, is the way
    59        I have described it, you can both deal with particular
    60        topics within the subject of the witness' evidence and then