Day 182 - 02 Nov 95 - Page 54
1
2 It would be quite wrong for me to say that I am telling you
3 that I will accept everything which is written there.
4 I cannot do that, because we have not got to the end of the
5 evidence and I have not heard argument on either side.
6
7 If I can adopt the metaphor I used this morning, all these
8 bits of evidence from various parts of the world and
9 different restaurants in this country, in particular, are
10 part of a jigsaw. I have to decide what the picture is at
11 the end of the day, which pieces fit, which do not, and
12 from the pieces which do fit what is the picture I get.
13
14 I have said before, you need not worry that it is not going
15 to be in public domain because I have said you can read
16 your statements out. I notice when I read a short report
17 in the newspaper the other day after Mr. Gibney had given
18 his evidence, it said that "in his statement he said",
19 whereas, in actual fact, he had given evidence in the
20 witness box. But it does not matter whether it is in a
21 statement or -- I am not suggesting this is your main
22 purpose, but if it were in your mind that you want to make
23 sure that the evidence comes out into the public domain, it
24 comes out into the public domain just as much if it is read
25 as if the witness gives the evidence on oath. To the
26 ordinary reader of any report of these proceedings, it does
27 not make any difference. It is with that in mind that I
28 have said you are perfectly entitled to read statements
29 rather than just put them in if you want to.
30
31 MR. MORRIS: Yes. You know, I do not want to get into an
32 abstract debate, but if he was living in this country we
33 would be happy to call him and, in fact, we would have to
34 call him. It is only technically because he is in another
35 country that he does not need to be called.
36
37 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is not a technicality.
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39 MR. MORRIS: No, I understand that.
40
41 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is based on hard pragmatism.
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43 MR. MORRIS: Yes, so, I mean, it comes down to a question,
44 really, of whether we feel it is beneficial to our case
45 that he attend. We have taken on board everything that you
46 are saying. I will try to speak to him to see, you know,
47 if he has documentation or anything else like that, whether
48 we can get that in plenty of time before or whether, in
49 fact, he needs to be called if there is nothing further to
50 say apart from what he has already said.
51
52 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What you have to do, as you have indicated
53 you will, is think pretty quickly, first of all, about
54 whether you need to call either Monsieur Lamti or
55 Mademoiselle Villeneuve-Gallaiz. First of all, consider
56 that. If you do think for any reason you have to call
57 them, you must give the proper notice. Rightly or wrongly,
58 for reasons which I have tried to explain, I was rather
59 more relaxed about Mr. Jenssen than I am prepared to be
60 about the French witnesses. So, you must observe the
