Day 128 - 24 May 95 - Page 53


     
     1        relation to advice, is it not, Mr. Rampton?
     2
     3   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, it is probably a bit wider than that.  It
     4        probably covers, does it not, without looking at the
     5        authorities -- I am doing it from memory -- all
     6        communications between the client and the lawyer?
     7
     8   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.  I think it is a bit risky because I can
     9        imagine one cannot even really ask Mrs. Barnes a general
    10        question, "Have the lawyers ever asked you for any
    11        document?" because the very next step is to go into what
    12        the discussions were.
    13
    14   MR. RAMPTON:  Exactly.
    15
    16   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  So for the moment ask it in the form I have
    17        asked.  If you run up against the difficulty which you are
    18        concerned about, then we will have it out completely and
    19        find what the answer is, because if McDonald's, as it were,
    20        put forward the answer that you say you are concerned
    21        about, then it probably would be open to -----
    22
    23   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, I should say the position is probably
    24        different where enquiries have been made in response to an
    25        order or direction made by your Lordship ----
    26
    27   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes, that is another matter.
    28
    29   MR. RAMPTON:  --- and the response appears in an affidavit,
    30        whether by Mrs. Brinley-Codd or Mr. Nicholson.
    31
    32   MS. STEEL:   Which in this case it does because we specifically
    33        asked for minutes of meetings in one of the applications we
    34        made.
    35
    36   MR. RAMPTON:  I did not say that; I said it an order or
    37        direction.
    38
    39   MS. STEEL:  Then if it was ordered that there should be an
    40        affidavit.
    41
    42   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Say what the particular document you have in
    43        mind at the moment is?
    44
    45   MS. STEEL:  The minutes of Health and Safety Executive and Task
    46        Force.
    47
    48   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Let us establish whether they exist, first of
    49        all.
    50 
    51   MS. STEEL:  Mrs. Barnes did say earlier ---- 
    52 
    53   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Let us establish that.  Ask specifically
    54        about it, if she knows whether they exist now.
    55
    56   MS. STEEL: (To the witness) The Company keeps minutes of the
    57        Health and Safety Task Force, does it not?
    58        A.  The Health and Safety Task Force which is now the
    59        Health and Safety Steering Group, yes.
    60

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