Day 147 - 04 Jul 95 - Page 18
1 they wanted to bring up that was supposedly embarrassing to
2 us. I was handed a pink Post-it, which states "Misuse of
3 transcripts". I still have that here, if anyone wants to
4 see. That is all it says. I asked Mrs. Brinley-Codd what
5 that meant, and she said they were sending us a letter.
6
7 MR. RAMPTON: No, my Lord, that is not right.
8
9 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It does not matter anyway, because
10 Mr. Rampton has not made an application. If you make an
11 application, normally you should issue a summons, and that
12 formality can be avoided if people agree; and, obviously,
13 you should have proper notice to respond to it.
14
15 MS. STEEL: Yes.
16
17 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is you who are making the application and
18 Mr. Rampton is just saying what he proposes to do.
19
20 MS. STEEL: This is relevant to the application that we will be
21 making if the Plaintiffs do not continue to provide
22 transcripts.
23
24 I want to finish what I was saying. Mrs. Brinley-Codd did
25 say that they would be sending us a letter to explain what
26 they were going to raise on Monday. We did not get that
27 letter.
28
29 If the transcripts are being withdrawn, we are going to
30 apply for an adjournment, because we have not had any
31 notice of this, so we have no chance to make preparations
32 for people to take notes for us, or to see whether we can
33 seek funding for the transcripts either from the public or
34 from the Lord Chancellor's Department or from the Human
35 Rights Committee of the Bar Council, or from any other
36 source.
37
38 Last year, when the trial started, we did have notetakers
39 here and, because of the transcripts, we basically said to
40 them that there was no need for them to come any more.
41
42 So the point is, if the transcripts are withdrawn, we will
43 need time to make arrangements for other ways of dealing
44 with the problem that has arisen for being able to have a
45 record, some kind of record, of what is going on in this
46 case.
47
48 MR. MORRIS: I would agree with what Ms. Steel has said. If
49 I can just add a few bits and pieces? For example, in a
50 case where a defendant in person may be deaf, then the
51 court can provide signers for that person at cost to the
52 court.
53
54 It seems to me that if, as the Plaintiffs have said, they
55 wish to continue providing, compiling (sic) transcripts and
56 are able to give a copy to the court, then out of the money
57 that the court is paying, in any case, the court costs --
58 whatever they may be, £5,000 or £7,000 a day, or
59 whatever -- that an extra £5 or something for copying a
60 transcript -----
