Day 305 - 25 Nov 96 - Page 40


     
     1        action.  I know there is nothing to show assent in general
     2        of general anti-McDonald's activities or distribution of
     3        the fact sheet, but that would not be enough.  Even if they
     4        could show that, they would have to show assent to a
     5        specific course of action in such a way as to influence the
     6        course of action that was taken as a result, which would
     7        lead to the distribution of the London Greenpeace
     8        fact sheet.  So there has to be that kind of causal link.
     9
    10   MS. STEEL:   I do not know whether what I said about the balance
    11        of probabilities -- I do not know whether I said it quite
    12        coherently enough.  I am trying to make the point that when
    13        you are looking about the balance of probabilities, it is
    14        not about whether you can suppose that we said something at
    15        a meeting, but about whether there is concrete evidence
    16        that we said something at a meeting and, therefore,
    17        whether, in the balance of probabilities, you can use that
    18        to say that the balance of probabilities was that we were
    19        encouraging dissemination of the fact sheet or that we said
    20        that we had distributed it ourselves.  We would say that
    21        there is absolutely no evidence from any of the spies that
    22        we were encouraging distribution of the fact sheet or that
    23        we said that we were distributing it ourselves.  If there
    24        is no evidence at all, then there is no balance of
    25        probabilities to weigh up; there is just no evidence.
    26
    27   MR. MORRIS:  I am just trying to work out what do next.
    28
    29   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.  What are you hoping to cover in the
    30        remainder of your oral submissions?  Ms. Steel at some
    31        stage is going to say what she wishes about the evidence
    32        relating to 16th October 1989.
    33
    34   MR. MORRIS:  Well, yes.  I am going to deal with the
    35        Jack Russell meeting.  I was just reading it through now
    36        while Ms. Steel was speaking.  It is quite hard to
    37        concentrate when someone is speaking about the same sort of
    38        matters.  But I have not quite finished going through it
    39        yet.  My recollection about it conforms with my reading of
    40        the transcript again.  I have got some general points to
    41        make, some other general points to make.  I wanted to go
    42        through the specific meetings which I attended.  But I have
    43        to check that tonight.  It may not take that long, because
    44        I only attended, of course, a very few meetings.  We have
    45        some legal points to make.
    46
    47   MR. RAMPTON:  Before any of that happens, can I say something?
    48        I hope this is not out of order, but it may be convenient,
    49        my Lord, if I say it now.  Twice today it has appeared to
    50        me that the Defendants are intending to use the opportunity 
    51        provided by the fact that my closing submissions will be in 
    52        writing to have, as it were, a second bite at the cherry. 
    53        When they see in particular what I say about publication,
    54        Mr. Morris said this morning that when he has looked at
    55        that he may want to put some more submissions in writing.
    56        Ms. Steel said something to very similar effect just now.
    57        Also, the other day, she asked your Lordship when the end
    58        of term was, which, to my mind, foreshadowed some ghastly
    59        prospect of an over-run which could only be provided by an
    60        extensive reply to my submissions by the Defendants.

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