Day 206 - 22 Jan 96 - Page 34
1 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think we just have to give a moment's
2 thought to the technicality of this. What you want to
3 adduce -----
4
5 MR. RAMPTON: Perhaps I can help? Mr. Morris has indicated the
6 parts that he wants to.
7
8 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Absolutely.
9
10 MR. RAMPTON: It is perhaps much neater just to leave it like
11 that. I will say -- I will not say it now because I have
12 not thought about it -- the probability is that we shall do
13 the same, if your Lordship allows us to do it, for the
14 parts which we want to rely on which are, very likely, all
15 or most of what Mr. Stein himself has said, including,
16 curiously enough, the bits that Mr. Morris wants to rely
17 on. There your Lordship will have in one document or two
18 documents the whole of what each side says on this
19 particular issue.
20
21 MR. JUSTICE BELL: The technical view I was taking that
22 Mr. Morris is entitled to make the excerpts only which he
23 wants to rely upon the subject of his Civil Evidence Act
24 notice, that would obviously, in all fairness, entitle you
25 to make certain other parts the subject of a Civil Evidence
26 Act Notice. I feel very wary at having specific parts put
27 in by Mr. Morris, specific parts put in by you, when
28 somewhere in the rest of the body, for all I know, there
29 might be something which throws extra light on what
30 Mr. Stein was saying at any particular moment.
31
32 So, what I would like to have is all Mr. Stein's written
33 statement and the whole of the transcript of his evidence
34 in under the Civil Evidence Act and no-one need look over
35 their shoulder concerned that by abiding by that course
36 they are accepting that one part is fact -----
37
38 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, that is unreal that Mr. Morris should
39 ever think your Lordship ---
40
41 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I understand his concern.
42
43 MR. RAMPTON: -- would listen to me if I tried to do that.
44 Might one not just treat the thing as read each side? It
45 is in as evidence, so far as it can be evidence of the
46 truth of the facts stated in it, and each side can rely on
47 the bits that they want to rely on. If one does it that
48 way, then, in saying that, your Lordship has by implication
49 waved the technicalities under the Rules. It is all
50 there. Ord. 38 r. 29 always give your Lordship power,
51 discretion, to dispense with the technical requirements of
52 the procedure.
53
54 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. What do you say about that, Mr. Morris?
55 I suggest the whole lot goes in as read. Quite
56 frankly, although I said you were entitled to read out your
57 Civil Evidence Act statements if you were concerned, it is
58 Alice in Wonderland just to read out a bit here and a bit
59 there from the written statement or the transcript. So,
60 I do not want you to read out bits. I will take the whole
