Day 103 - 14 Mar 95 - Page 69
1 quite hard to keep my train of thought and get properly
2 prepared. That is a large part of why this has taken so
3 long.
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I sympathise with any tiredness or stress you
6 may be suffering from. In fact, it is not necessary even
7 for me to say that. But one has to look at the matter in
8 the round as well. You have part of the day only
9 tomorrow. Obviously, you have to listen to what
10 Mr. Bennett has to say, but you do not have what I know is
11 the tension of knowing you are going to have to stand up
12 and cross-examine sooner or later during that day. So it
13 is not a bad day for you from that point of view.
14
15 You are continuing to cross-examine Dr. Pattison in the
16 afternoon, but you have covered a large number of topics.
17 If you go from half past 2 tomorrow until about quarter
18 past four, you have an hour and three quarters to finish
19 it. You have time before half past 2 to sit down and make
20 sure you have yourself in order and go through your notes
21 and ask yourselves: "What really have we usefully to ask
22 Dr. Pattison which remains?"
23
24 I think it helps you if you set yourself a target of
25 finishing Dr. Pattison in that period tomorrow.
26
27 MS. STEEL: Can I just say something else which, I mean, we did
28 keep asking for breaks, more breaks, to be put between each
29 witness. As far as I can see, every time the Plaintiffs
30 have drawn up a timetable they have tried to make the
31 breaks as short as possible and as few as possible and
32 quite often no breaks unless we kick up a big fuss about
33 it. This is going to be a continual problem unless they
34 start taking notice of the fact that we cannot keep up at
35 the pace at which they are going. They have eight people
36 on their team. There are just two of us. It is
37 impossible.
38
39 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You have to speak to me about it, as I have
40 said before. You have to set it out and tell me what you
41 have to do before the next witnesses are called and give
42 some reasoned estimate of how long it will take. I will
43 listen to you with a perfectly open mind and quite
44 sympathetically.
45
46 But, I am dealing with the current situation with regard to
47 Dr. Pattison at the moment. You see, I know he covers two
48 topics but between you, unless I have misinterpreted my
49 notes, you have been cross-examining Dr. Pattison for four
50 whole days now. I think if a target is set, quite frankly,
51 you will make it easier for yourselves.
52
53 I have indicated before that I think there is a limit on
54 the amount of detail you can elicit and then usefully hold
55 on to. I think you are making rods for your own back when
56 you just elicit more and more information which, at the end
57 of the day, you are going to try to want to sift to get out
58 of it what is important to support your arguments in this
59 case.
60
