Day 308 - 28 Nov 96 - Page 11
1 admission in the pleadings that only two letters were sent,
2 one of which was enclosing the writ and the other of which
3 was about a different leaflet.
4
5 The first point is just a matter to be inferred from
6 reading the pleadings; it is not a fact to be inferred.
7 You can just see what the basis of that pleading is from
8 reading the Plaintiffs' pleadings. The Plaintiffs'
9 pleadings do not go anywhere near establishing the
10 allegations that they set out in the press releases and
11 leaflets that they published.
12
13 Number 2: "The Second Plaintiff knows from its own history
14 and that of the parent company and from documents in their
15 possession that the leaflets entitled 'What's wrong with
16 McDonald's?' are true."
17
18 Firstly, they know that they obtained beef from
19 ex-rainforest land. There was an admission by
20 Ms. Bensilum, who works for the Second Plaintiff. So,
21 obviously, that is something you are aware of. Whether or
22 not she gave evidence, it does not make any difference; she
23 knew, and she works for the Second Plaintiff. They are
24 also aware of Co-Op Montecillos using beef from
25 ex-rainforest land, and they were aware of what Co-op
26 Montecillos had stated in "Jungleburger"; they are also
27 aware of the fact that they imported beef from Brazil to be
28 used in McDonald's stores. I am not going to go through
29 every bit of evidence there is, but this is just by way of
30 an example.
31
32 Secondly, they know that only a tiny percentage of their
33 packaging had a recycled content; for example, the
34 documents that we referred to in our opening speeches at
35 the start of the trial, which showed that only 9 percent of
36 the paper packaging was made from recycled paper. They
37 also know that huge quantities of their packaging ends up
38 as environment/index.html">litter.
39
40 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I do not want to stop you, but is there any
41 point in going through this, because, by the time I get to
42 counterclaim, I will have made up my mind about all these
43 matters as I progress through the various issues on the
44 claim, will I not?
45
46 MS. STEEL: I just want to do it briefly. I mean, I am trying
47 to run through it as fast as I can.
48
49 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am saying, I do not think there is any need
50 for you to do it. It is entirely up to you how you spend
51 your time in putting your submissions, but I do not think
52 there is any need to, because by the time I get to this
53 I will have made up my own mind about all these matters
54 I progress through dealing with the topics on the claim.
55
56 MS. STEEL: I will just nip through it quickly. I mean,
57 I found this this morning, and we referred to it before
58 anyway, and it is relevant to some of the recycling and
59 waste issue anyway: that in the local store Marketing News
60 of May 1990 there was a quote in there that: "When one
