Day 163 - 25 Sep 95 - Page 12

     
     1        actions are tried by judge and jury and the judge decides
     2        whether the words are capable of bearing the defamatory
     3        meaning.  It is not until the jury return their verdict
     4        that one can work out what they have made of the meaning
     5        necessarily, but here you have a judge alone, so I can
     6        decide along the way.
     7
     8        I think this is probably apparent that I have been thinking
     9        about it over the vacation.  My own view is, as presently
    10        advised under Ord. 33, r. 3, that I can decide what the
    11        meaning is, that it would carry considerable potential
    12        advantage, not only in the system of the disposal of your
    13        application to strike out, but, if that fails, deciding,
    14        you, Ms. Steel and Mr. Rampton, who is the court embodiment
    15        of the First and Second Plaintiffs, what further evidence
    16        is required on nutrition.
    17
    18        If you and Ms. Steel think that that is a sensible course
    19        to take, then what I suggest is a few days hence (so you
    20        have had time to think about any further arguments) we have
         argument on it and I will give my ruling.
    22
    23   MR. MORRIS:  Maybe we could do that this week, but probably not
    24        tomorrow.
    25
    26   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No.  I am not going to rush you into it.
    27        Just let me find something.  What I will do is I will
    28        decide the meaning unless, Mr. Rampton, any authority to
    29        the contrary occurs, which it does not look as if it will.
    30
    31   MR. RAMPTON:  I do not know of any.
    32
    33   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I will take a break now to quarter to 12.
    34        What I would like you to do, if you look at page 6, line
    35        39, of CaseView which you can sit in court and look at,
    36        there is something I said there which started off:  "If it
    37        means".  What I would like you to copy down is the meaning
    38        I put forward there, so that when you argue about meaning
    39        you have verbatim what I had in mind as a possible meaning.
    40
    MS. STEEL:   Can I ask a question?  I do not know whether this
    42        is appropriate but, for the purposes of preparing an
    43        argument, is it possible to know when you first came into
    44        this case what was the first thing you read about the case
    45        or what was the first thing you heard?
    46
    47   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  In what way?
    48
    49   MS. STEEL:   About what the issues were.
    50 
    51   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I am not sure I can recall but, to the best 
    52        of my recollection, it was reading the pleadings and the 
    53        leaflet itself.
    54
    55   MS. STEEL:   Did you read the pleadings before the leaflet?
    56
    57   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes, certainly.  I say "certainly" because
    58        one always read the pleadings, first of all, and the
    59        Statement of Claim sets out large parts, but not all, of
    60        the leaflet itself because it sets out the words which are