Day 269 - 25 Jun 96 - Page 94
1 yourself for a long time, and then going into the witness
2 box as a witness, and as a party, you have a sort of
3 tripartite personality in the proceedings itself. If you
4 said to me: "I do not want to answer that question. I
5 would like to talk to my McKenzie friend if you will allow
6 before I raise my objection," then subject to anything Mr.
7 Rampton says, I would be minded to let you do that; step
8 out the witness box and you can do it. I just hope it does
9 not happen too often, but what I would not be prepared to
10 do, unless there was some particularly good reason is
11 say: "Right, I am going break off your evidence now for
12 half-a-day while you go and obtain some legal advice."
13
14 MS. STEEL: Well that is why we thought it would be a good
15 idea. I know you cannot make a decision about each and
16 every thing that came up but some general kind of
17 principles or limits or something so that we can get advice
18 about it before hand so that it will not take up time
19 during the cross-examination.
20
21 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think that is extremely difficult. If you
22 want to say -- I think you have got to, if you want to say
23 on Friday when we next come back here: "We are concerned
24 that if we are asked this," and you have a particular point
25 in mind, "as to whether we will have to answer it." Then I
26 will ask Mr. Rampton if he can help, but what I cannot do
27 is insist on Mr. Rampton telling me whether he proposes to
28 ask you questions on that topic in advance and what I
29 cannot, even more so ask him, is what sort of form of words
30 he would use. I cannot ask anyone in advance -- nor would
31 I want to do so -- whether, if someone who goes into the
32 witness box, he will be asked about this.
33
34 MS. STEEL: I mean you have set rules and terms of we are not
35 allowed to ask witnesses about, you know, how much they
36 earn if they are executives or we were not allowed to ask
37 Paul Preston about whether he supported the Conservative
38 Party. They are just examples.
39
40 MR. JUSTICE BELL: This really strengthens my feeling that I
41 cannot decide it in advance. I did not think that until
42 the issues as I have seen them in the case, knowing whether
43 a McDonald's executive or one of the McDonald's companies
44 supported one of the major political parties in this
45 country, whichever one it was, could possibly help me on
46 any issue in the case. Now if, but I did not stop you when
47 you were asking about Mr. Nicholson bout -- I have
48 forgotten what the name of it was now, the group.
49
50 MS. STEEL: Economically.
51
52 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, that is right. Do you see what I
53 mean? There is an example as I had to take each one as
54 they came.
55
56 MS. STEEL: Right, but that would be relevant to the trade union
57 issue, that part anyway.
58
59 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Well yes, indeed it might be, and if you are
60 asked about some political group which it is suggested you
