Day 132 - 07 Jun 95 - Page 55
1 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What I am going to say is what I said just a
2 moment ago. By preference I have urged Mr. Rampton to have
3 Mr. Brown and Mr. Jardina for Thursday and Friday. I rely
4 upon him to achieve that if it can reasonably be achieved.
5 However, if that cannot reasonably be achieved, you must be
6 prepared to be informed that Mr. Fairgrieve will be the
7 witness who is called. You must then be able to
8 cross-examine him.
9
10 MS. STEEL: Yes.
11
12 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Bear in mind that I am only entering into
13 this discussion to try to help the case go forward in the
14 way in which I originally suggested would be most
15 convenient to everyone, that is that we try to deal with
16 blocks of witnesses on both sides. As time has gone on it
17 has not been possible to do that and a witness who has not
18 completed their evidence in respect of whom a relevant
19 document has been discovered has gone away and had to be
20 recalled. A judge would not normally involve himself in
21 considerations of which witnesses are to be called when and
22 next. I have only allowed myself to do that with a view to
23 helping the trial proceed. If co-operation falls down, and
24 if there cannot be agreement, the bottom line always is
25 that we just go back to what is the normal procedure and
26 Mr. Rampton calls his witnesses one after another on
27 whatever topic until he has called them all. If we come
28 back to that I will obviously listen to you if you say,
29 "Can we have a break now for the following witnesses?"
30 That is ultimately what happens if co-operation breaks
31 down. When he has finished calling all his witnesses you
32 must call your witnesses one after the other, end to end,
33 until you have called those who are available, subject
34 again to you saying: "Well, we would like a little break
35 now for this reason or that."
36
37 I do not propose to say any more. I will ask everyone to
38 remember that that is what we will have to resort to if we
39 cannot reach agreement as to who is called next and when.
40
41 MS. STEEL: We are trying to be co-operative.
42
43 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am not asking you to reassure me about
44 that. It seems to me perfectly reasonable, since
45 Mr. Fairgrieve has been in the witness box twice already
46 and you were presumably ready to go on and cross-examine on
47 those two occasions, that he be called next week if
48 Mr. Brown or Mr. Jardina cannot conveniently be called in
49 his stead.
50
51 MS. STEEL: Yes. Obviously the fact that we were ready with at
52 least a considerable proportion of the cross-examination
53 ready, we still have to read things again and also there is
54 still the possibility that Mr. Fairgrieve may take more
55 than the two days we have available and run into
56 Mr. Stein's time.
57
58 MR. JUSTICE BELL: We will deal with that problem if it arises.
59 You have to be prepared to continue your cross-examination
60 of Mr. Fairgrieve if he is in the witness and you have to
