Day 164 - 26 Sep 95 - Page 18
1 What we are not prepared to do in that particular case is
2 to copy a huge number of pages and send it to the
3 Defendants. They have had the opportunity to come and look
4 it during the last two months. They have not taken that
5 opportunity. It is up to them.
6
7 MS. STEEL: We have offered a third course which is that, given
8 that this is something available in all the Plaintiffs'
9 stores, they must have several copies of it and must
10 continually produce new copies in order to provide them to
11 new stores that are opening, if they will loan it to us so
12 that we can look at it in our own time at home -----
13
14 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think the objection is that there are parts
15 of it which are about security which they say are not
16 relevant to this case and which they do not want anyone
17 else outside McDonald's to see at all.
18
19 MS. STEEL: We are understand that.
20
21 MR. MORRIS: We are happy for that.
22
23 MR. RAMPTON: We do not trust you.
24
25 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Therefore, their standing on the strictly
26 technical position which is that you can go to their
27 solicitors' offices and, presumably, while someone sits
28 with you, look through and say: "Well, we think this is
29 relevant and we would like a photocopy of that". Where you
30 go from there, I do not know, because McDonald's solicitor
31 who is attending on their behalf may accept it is
32 potentially relevant or not, but we have not even got to
33 that stage. Since it is a book, I will describe it as,
34 part of which they do not want you to see and which is,
35 they say, not relevant to these proceedings, you must go to
36 their premises to look at it.
37
38 MS. STEEL: It is my understanding, and I believe from evidence
39 given in court, that this is not a fully bound book; it is
40 a loose-leaf thing where pages can be inserted and taken
41 out. Therefore, it ought to be possible for the Plaintiffs
42 to take out the section they do not want us to see and then
43 loan us the rest of the copy.
44
45 MR. RAMPTON: It is bound. It is not loose-leaf. I have looked
46 at it many times myself. It is a great fat thing like a
47 telephone directory. It is about 700 pages.
48
49 MR. MORRIS: That is not what the evidence given in evidence
50 court by executives of McDonald's, that it was deliberately
51 designed so that updates can be inserted. That is what was
52 said.
53
54 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What power do you suggest I have to -- the
55 first entitlement you have is inspection and that is, as
56 I understand it, inspection at the premises of the party
57 who holds the documents or, as often happens and is
58 suggested in this case, their solicitors.
59
60 MR. MORRIS: They can bring it to court and we can do the
