Day 275 - 08 Jul 96 - Page 06
1 not going to cross-examination either of them, either of
2 the Plaintiffs.
3
4 MR. RAMPTON: No, no, my Lord, no.
5
6 MR. JUSTICE BELL: And Mr. Atkinson, who would not be involved
7 in any cross-examination of the defendants, could stay in
8 court for perhaps three quarters of an hour where there are
9 all the bundles and have access to the witness bundles as
10 well and begin to go through them with Mr. Morris, and I
11 would suggest with Miss Steel present, and see what
12 progress can be made.
13
14 Is there merit in that?
15
16 MR. RAMPTON: Mr. Atkinson thinks so, my Lord, yes.
17
18 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What about that Mr. Morris?
19
20 MR. MORRIS: Yes.
21
22 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What I have in mind you can then say to
23 Mr. Atkinson, "Well, what is it you are actually looking
24 for us to admit in relation to that document". If you
25 cannot remember just what the document has got in it,
26 Mr. Atkinson can produce a copy. He can have access to any
27 of the witness bundles up there as long as they are
28 promptly returned and you will have something like three
29 quarters of an hour between quarter to four and half past
30 four, when you want to leave anyway on a number of days to
31 go through the evidence. Even though Miss Steel for the
32 first day or two anyway will probably be giving evidence,
33 and even though you say she has not had an opportunity to
34 look through, I think it would be just as well that she sat
35 in on the conversation, because at the end of the day, as I
36 have tried to explain to the other day, it is going to be a
37 bit odd if one of you admits some and the other does not.
38
39 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, that sounds, if I may respectfully say
40 so, extremely sensible. Can I say one other thing which I
41 think I ought to say -- two other things. We have put on
42 that list only documents which we think, if we had to, we
43 could proof by one means or another, mostly by recourse to
44 the Civil Witness Act. We could do that and if we have to
45 do it then we will do our level best to get the task done.
46 It might be a considerable task because the sources are
47 very often abroad and very often at some considerable
48 distance, as it were, metaphorically speaking, from the
49 heart of McDonald's. But it can be done, we think. With
50 that in mind, it seemed to us -- I do not know if this
51 meets with your Lordship's approval -- that to the extent
52 that agreement is not forthcoming, we would expect to be
53 able to complete that task, and if we cannot we cannot, by
54 the end of this term.
55
56 That is to say, if I can have two days leeway, the 1st
57 and 2nd August fall immediately after the end of term,
58 which is the 31st, which is a Wednesday as part of the same
59 week, if we can use that as our deadline we will be able to
60 have a very good go at getting the necessary Civil Evidence
