Day 205 - 17 Jan 96 - Page 52


     
     1        soon as possible, because it obviously concerns Ms. Steel
     2        and it keeps cropping up, questions on the Fairgrieve
     3        documents.  There was a muddle about them originally, which
     4        is why he had to go away again when he was recalled.
     5
     6   MR. RAMPTON:  Certainly, Mrs. Brinley-Codd will have heard that
     7        and will attend to it.
     8
     9        There are two things I need to mention before the
    10        Defendants explain their position on the schedule.  The
    11        first is, your Lordship will remember that we have a
    12        witness called Eddy Benson -- and that is a girl, not a
    13        boy -- who has been in America this past year or so and
    14        has, therefore, been imposed with a Civil Evidence Act
    15        notice.  She gives evidence on paper about two things: one
    16        is a conversation she had with an Observer journalist
    17        concerning rainforest policy; and the other is in relation
    18        to publication.  She is back in this country now.  I tell
    19        your Lordship that because of course her reappearance in
    20        this country is absolute invalidate, in our belief, and if
    21        it does not, I would not want your Lordship to think that
    22        what was said in the original notice was still true and it
    23        is not, which was that she was overseas.  She is not
    24        overseas any more, and I therefore thought it was only
    25        right to tell your Lordship that.
    26
    27   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It is proposed to call her?
    28
    29   MR. RAMPTON:   No, I think probably not.  I thought about that.
    30        I have looked at what she has to say.  Given the review
    31        which I have conducted with the publication evidence and,
    32        more particularly, the rainforest evidence, I do not really
    33        see any need to call her at all.  I suppose it does mean
    34        that, as she still has a Civil Evidence Act notice, it is
    35        only that part of it which false under the overseas
    36        disqualification which is invalidated.  Theoretically, I
    37        suppose the Defendants could serve a counter notice.  It
    38        does not actually make any difference at all because a
    39        counter notice has no compulsive force at all.  All it does
    40        is disqualify me from relying on her evidence if I do not
    41        call her.  Since I do not propose to do that anyway, it
    42        does not really matter.
    43
    44   MS. STEEL:  In case we forget, and the Plaintiffs change their
    45        mind at a later date, then I think we do want to serve a
    46        counter notice, and if we could do that informally by doing
    47        it now.
    48
    49   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Just so we observe the formalities, albeit in
    50        a somewhat informal way, what I have said is that there is 
    51        deemed to be a counter notice, so if her evidence is to be 
    52        relied upon she has to be called. 
    53
    54   MR. RAMPTON:  Yes, unless your Lordship exercises a discretion
    55        to dispense with that which is -----
    56
    57   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You are not asking me to do that.
    58
    59   MR. RAMPTON:   No, I am not but I -----
    60

Prev Next Index