Day 205 - 17 Jan 96 - Page 44
1 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord.
2
3 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is just a question of a power of leave to
4 amend to add them.
5
6 MR. RAMPTON: I would like, I mean, I am always attempted to get
7 things out of the way because it saves time. I cannot
8 think that either of these amendments is going to have any
9 significant influence on the result of this case. Even so,
10 I think this is a counsel of caution. I would like to
11 think about it over the weekend. I would like to hear what
12 Mr. Atkinson thinks about it and things of that kind.
13 I may even want to telephone Professor Walker, I do not
14 know, or ask Mrs. Brinley-Codd to do so because one often
15 finds, even in what Mr. Morris would like to call an
16 official information service, mistakes are made.
17
18 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Monday again. May I repeat, it can be left
19 until we have dealt with that, but when I gave the ruling
20 allowing amendment of the particulars of justification to
21 add, I think, there were a total of nine amendments in
22 relation to employment practices, and to amend particular C
23 in the environment section -- I think it is on page 3 of
24 the Abstract -- to add the knock-on effect in relation to
25 Brazil to what was pleaded about Guatemala and Costa Rica,
26 and to allow an extra general amendment. Do you remember?
27 You applied to amend in two respects with regard to damage
28 of the environment; one was to add Brazil, in effect, to
29 Guatemala and Costa Rica, and I allowed that in part.
30
31 MR. MORRIS: Yes.
32
33 MR. JUSTICE BELL: The other was to allow an amendment to the
34 effect that McDonald's had no policy about such matters.
35 I allowed you about half of what you wanted in relation to
36 that. I think I allowed the first three lines and cut out
37 the last two. In any event, when I gave leave to amend in
38 those respects, I said I would be very grateful if the
39 Abstract could be changed in order to cater for the amended
40 pleadings. I do not think it has been done.
41
42 I hesitate to repeat the request because it is really not
43 for me to say, in effect, that Mr. Atkinson or your
44 instructing solicitors, Mr. Rampton, should add to the
45 document for my benefit. My reserve is that otherwise
46 I will add something to it of my own accord which you will
47 not have and the Defendants will not have.
48
49 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I am not quite sure what has happened. I
50 have certainly seen, I thought, an Abstract which had got
51 in a bit about Brazil. I think it is just not completely
52 up-to-date. I have certainly seen one. My Lord, I am
53 grateful for those observations because it is a burden on
54 Mrs. Brinley-Codd and her helpers. It is not our business,
55 in fact, to amend the Defendants' pleadings for them. It
56 is up to them to do it. However, in the peculiar
57 circumstances of this case, we will do it and we are sorry
58 if it is not up-to-date; we will try to get it up to date
59 as soon as we can.
60
