Day 246 - 09 May 96 - Page 35


     
     1
     2   MS. STEEL:   Yes, about the Company's motives and ----
     3
     4   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I am less interested in the Company's motives
     5        at this stage in actually bringing the action in the first
     6        place, because the trouble is we keep going round in
     7        circles.  Until I have actually ----
     8
     9   MS. STEEL:  I meant the motives of publishing the leaflet.
    10
    11   MR. JUSTICE BELL: -- Just let me say what I was going to say.
    12        Until I have actually decided whether parts of the leaflet
    13        are defamatory and untrue, I cannot begin to judge the
    14        motives of the Company in bringing the action just by way
    15        of example if I found that the allegations were justified
    16        in the leaflet defamatory or not, then it might be a short
    17        route to saying that the Company just wanted to suppress
    18        any criticism.
    19
    20        On the other hand, if I found that a significant number of
    21        the allegations in the leaflet were not justified but they
    22        were untrue, then no doubt Mr. Rampton would argue in so
    23        far as it was necessary or relevant for him to do so, well
    24        a Corporation is entitled to try and put a stop to that
    25        sort of thing.  I only give this as an example and I cannot
    26        really get to grips with the question of motivation and
    27        bringing the action until I have begun to decide what in
    28        the leaflet is true and untrue.
    29
    30        We are then concentrating on the counterclaim element and
    31        the requests which relate to that which are motivation for
    32        the material which you complain of in your counterclaim.
    33        I would like you to give a bit of thought to it over the
    34        midday adjournment anyway.
    35
    36        In so far as questions you ask do fairly directly relate to
    37        that, then the questions and the answers to that may be
    38        helpful to me, but in so far as they do not, is, to use a
    39        colloquialism, just arguing the toss about the general
    40        rights and wrongs and I am not interested in that at this
    41        stage of the case.
    42
    43   MS. STEEL:  Right.
    44
    45   MR. RAMPTON:  Can I say one thing:  With respect, I agree with
    46        what your Lordship has said but there is one aspect which
    47        makes it slightly more complicated, which is that one of
    48        the features of the material put out by or on behalf of the
    49        Defendants at the beginning of 1994 was to impugn the
    50        Plaintiff's motives for bringing the action in the first 
    51        place. 
    52 
    53   MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, but I have to approach it on a reasonably
    54        broad basis.  I am not suggesting that when we get to
    55        another witness, or another stage in the argument I will
    56        say: "Well, that is not helping me".  All I feel is that
    57        with Mr. Preston in the witness box, we ought to focus.
    58
    59        I will rephrase that.  I feel it would be most helpful to
    60        me to focus on the issues relating to the counterclaim

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