Day 169 - 04 Oct 95 - Page 63
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2 I have already indicated that Ms. Steel, and the same will
3 apply to you, can take into the witness box notes to remind
4 her of the topics she wants to deal with and she will say
5 what she wishes to say as if she was being questioned by
6 her own barrister or solicitor were she represented. It
7 may well be that I will ask her questions, but, if I do so,
8 it is only to pick up some possible relevant pointers to
9 try and keep things in order.
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11 When Ms. Steel has finished giving her evidence-in-chief,
12 as it were, then you are given an opportunity to
13 cross-examine her and you must go before Mr. Rampton or
14 Mr. Atkinson, because the rule is that parties on the same
15 side, or those who represent them, question before
16 cross-examination by the person on the other side.
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18 When you have finished your cross-examination, which you
19 will, presumably, be using not to test Ms. Steel's evidence
20 but to bring out any other matters you think she could
21 usefully say which she has omitted to say, Mr. Rampton will
22 cross-examine Ms. Steel and when he has completed his
23 cross-examination I will say to Ms. Steel, "Is there
24 anything more you wish to say arising out of the matters
25 which Mr. Rampton has dealt with", because that is the
26 equivalent of re-examination which should strictly be
27 directed at matters which have arisen in
28 cross-examination.
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30 If, in fact, Ms. Steel says, "By the way, I missed
31 something when I was going through my evidence to start
32 with, it does not arise from what I was asked in
33 cross-examination but can I tell you now", the answer will
34 be "yes". But, subject to that, and Mr. Rampton wanted to
35 cross-examine further, that will be Ms. Steel's evidence.
36 I will then ask her if she wants to call any further
37 witnesses she has not called. If she does, she will call
38 them and then I will go through exactly the same procedure
39 with you.
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41 If, at any stage, when either of you is in the witness box,
42 even if you are in the middle of your own evidence, you
43 have any doubt or query about procedure you must not
44 hesitate to ask me about it. So when you come to
45 cross-examine Ms. Steel, if you want to ask me about
46 anything you can, and if either of you want to ask me about
47 procedure before you go into the witness box you can. But
48 that is the essential procedure.
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50 MR. MORRIS: The "any further witnesses" - what is the purpose
51 of that? Is it just things that may have been missed out
52 in the evidence?
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54 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. It is so that you do not find that the
55 evidence has closed and you still have someone you have not
56 called. In fact, what may be the most convenient way of
57 doing things, if you still have witnesses left over for any
58 reason, is for Ms. Steel to give her evidence, for you to
59 give yours, and then call the additional witnesses.
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