Day 197 - 07 Dec 95 - Page 25

     
       1      anything of particular importance then.
       2
       3 MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Just sit down for a moment, Mr. Coton.  What
       4      you can do, if you want, if you have them in your mind
       5      now, as these papers have only come out recently -- you
       6      sit down as well if you want -- and just speak out to me
       7      which pages and which parts you want me to mark so that if
       8      and when I review the files more thoroughly I do not fail
       9      to notice those matter.
      10
      11      If you have not got them, if you are not prepared ready to
      12      do that now, then I will give you five or 10 minutes at
      13      some other time when you can do it.  But I do not think it
      14      is -- two things:  Firstly, I think Mr. Rampton's concern
      15      is technically probably well founded and, secondly, I do
      16      not think it helps me really to have Mr. Coton's comment
      17      any more than my own interpretation of any part which you
      18      bring to my attention.
      19
      20      What I suggest you do is take up the offer I just made.
         Come back at some stage in the future and say:  "Now,
      22      while it is on my mind before I have forgotten and in case
      23      I forget to do it when I come to final submissions", where
      24      I know you are going to do as brief as possible, "I would
      25      like to spend five minutes now just drawing your attention
      26      to the parts in these two files which I particularly want
      27      you to take note of".  It is not the usual procedure, but
      28      I am quite prepared to follow that course.  There is no
      29      need to go through it with Mr. Coton.
      30
      31 MR. MORRIS:  Maybe what we will do now is just quickly go
      32      through if there anything particularly important and point
      33      it out now.
      34
      35 MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Do you want to do that now or at some
      36      slightly later stage when you have -----
      37
      38 MR. MORRIS:  I think, considering the Plaintiffs' indication
      39      before, how they are doing deal with this witness, it is
      40      only fair the witness at least gets the chance to hear the
         relevant points.
      42
      43 MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No, that is not the right way to do it.  The
      44      point of this exercise is not just to have your witness
      45      forewarned as to what might be in the documents.  It is to
      46      get any evidence which he can usefully give perhaps
      47      prompted by a document.  I share Mr. Rampton's reservation
      48      about you doing it on documents which are addressed to
      49      someone else, not himself, which, so far as I am aware, he
      50      did not see, but I am giving you the opportunity to draw
      51      those to my attention.
      52 
      53 MR. MORRIS:  OK.  Page 23, second point on the form:  "I feel
      54      holding times may be exceeded".
      55
      56 MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Which page are you on?
      57
      58 MR. MORRIS:  Page 23.
      59
      60 MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.