Day 255 - 23 May 96 - Page 60
1 waiver as the Defendants might hope and it is essential we
2 do not get bogged down in a speculative argument about what
3 the law actually is when we can find it out by reading the
4 cases.
5
6 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. Is it fair to say this, that you have
7 at the moment waived any privilege in relation to the
8 observations and investigations actually carried out by the
9 four inquiry agents whom you propose to call?
10
11 MR. RAMPTON: On the occasions, the specified occasions which
12 are relevant to this case which they describe. That is
13 right.
14
15 MR. JUSTICE BELL: To which they refer, but you have not made
16 any waiver with regard to any observations or inquiries by
17 anyone on any other days and you have not made any waiver
18 in relation to observations and investigations carried out
19 by other inquiry agents whom you are not proposing to call
20 in relation to any date at all?
21
22 MR. RAMPTON: That is right. That is the proposition, my Lord,
23 and I believe it to be right in law, but that is the
24 argument to be had in due course.
25
26 MS. STEEL: OK.
27
28 MR. RAMPTON: What follows from that is that we have disclosed
29 the notes already, some of them for the occasions that we
30 have relied on. In consequence of the change to the
31 defence and the additional statements which the inquiry
32 agents have now made, we are going to serve some unblanked
33 out parts, or parts we have already blanked out in the
34 existing notes, and we have going to serve some additional
35 notes, because we cannot deploy the evidence of the agents
36 without waiving privilege in the documents for those
37 occasions, and the same goes for the photographs.
38
39 MS. STEEL: Actually, I was just about to ask about this. We
40 did get a letter from Barlows saying that they were
41 intending to disclose more notes, and it was just that
42 Mr. Rampton raised yesterday about could we get our
43 statements to them a week before their witnesses come in
44 the witness box and, obviously, anything that is in any new
45 notes may be something that we want to ask our witnesses
46 about. So it is the sooner that is done, the better.
47
48 MR. RAMPTON: The Defendants will get another letter with the
49 additional notes, copies of the additional notes, tomorrow.
50 It is as simple as that.
51
52 MS. STEEL: Thank you.
53
54 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Very well. I am not going to say anything
55 more about it because, otherwise, I will find myself saying
56 something which may indicate that I have reached a
57 conclusion one way or another and I have not. I am glad
58 I understand correctly the extent of what Mr. Rampton says
59 the waiver is, but whether it goes any further and covers
60 anything else is up for argument in the future.
