Day 130 - 26 May 95 - Page 80
1 court time and your Lordship just puts a line through it --
2 and ask him, perhaps, a few questions about matters which
3 need to be clarified in some way or another.
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: My anxiety about that -- I am perfectly
6 content with that so far as the first parts of the
7 statement are concerned, I am not at the moment attracted
8 by that so far as the part which comments on the witnesses
9 is concerned, because I can then see that Ms. Steel and
10 Mr. Morris would be tempted to (and may even feel bound)
11 pick him up on some of the comments he has made about their
12 potential witnesses. Then I am going to be jumping in all
13 the time and reassuring them and saying: "You need not ask
14 Mr. Purslow about that because that is pre-eminently a
15 matter for me" or "that is a matter of ordinary sense and
16 judgment, not a matter for expertise".
17
18 I mean, I have partly got in mind the forestry evidence we
19 had because of this, because the forestry evidence took a
20 great deal more time than it need have done, perhaps for a
21 variety of reasons, but one of which may have been that
22 your witness whose name I have completely forgotten ---
23
24 MR. RAMPTON: Mr. Mallinson.
25
26 MR. JUSTICE BELL: -- yes, was asked to verify his statement and
27 then, I have no doubt out of anxiety that there was
28 something in there which might or might not be relevant
29 that would go unchallenged unless they asked about it, Ms.
30 Steel and Mr. Morris cross-examined on matters which,
31 reading this leaflet, at the end of the day, are probably
32 not going to be germane at all.
33
34 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, then I will leave it -----
35
36 MR. JUSTICE BELL: By all means, if I may say so, it is
37 ultimately a matter for you as counsel taking the witness,
38 put in that which is clearly an expert report as his
39 evidence-in-chief, but I would urge you to keep off the
40 comments on the Defendants' witness statements save in so
41 far as you want his particular expertise on evidence which
42 may come.
43
44 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I would have done that anyway, but I will
45 do it that way because then if there is nothing in-chief on
46 that part of his statement, then the Defendants, and your
47 Lordship of course, can be confident that there is no issue
48 arising there so far as his evidence is concerned.
49
50 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. The answer to that is that if it is
51 crossing your mind to ask Mr. Purslow about something which
52 is in one of your witness's statements and, therefore, you
53 have reason to believe one of your witnesses may give in
54 evidence, whether by Civil Evidence Act statement or in the
55 witness box, there is no need to do that if what you are
56 saying is, really, a point of common sense and every day
57 judgment.
58
59 If what you want to do is try to get out of Mr. Purslow an
60 expert's view, that is something which relies upon his
