Day 002 - 29 Jun 94 - Page 46


     
     1        that counterclaim must be taken seriously.
 
     2        In fact, it may be useful to recognise that instead of the
              libel laws putting all the burden of obligation on one
     3        party and, therefore, at the end of a libel trial, in
              general, the truth is not established.  What is
     4        established is whether the defendants have been able to
              prove some allegations, and then no doubt at the end the
     5        plaintiff gets up and says:  "Here you are, it is all
              lies; we have proved it", but they have not proved it. The
     6        burdens has been on the defendants to prove, but it is
              useful for both parties to have the obligation to prove
     7        their points; the truth of the matter.
 
     8        McDonald's have resisted strenuously any obligation --
              they resist strenuously the disclosure of any documents
     9        except those very strictly defined by our pleadings, or
              that we could identify, convince the court to order that
    10        they should be disclosed.  I give an example of this.
              I have already mentioned the national statistics on
    11        accidents in their restaurants.  McDonald's have to prove
              that that statement is false, that they have poor
    12        conditions, they should release their national
              statistics.  They are under an obligation to.  It also
    13        applies to environment/index.html">litter complaints where we have made a pleading
              but Paul Preston, the UK president, has said environment/index.html">litter is
    14        their biggest complaint.
 
    15        Like everything else in McDonald's Corporation, we are
              absolutely certain that they would keep records and
    16        statistical records, summaries, other whatever, otherwise
              of course, he would not know they were the biggest
    17        complaints they get.  So the national statistics on that
              must be released to us.
    18
              It would be helpful if that was done at the earliest
    19        possible stage, rather than wait until witnesses have been
              cross-examined, then have to be recalled, if there are
    20        still points of dispute later on over the obligations of
              the plaintiff to proffer their points about them.
    21
              So that is my plea really on the eve of trial -- or on the
    22        second day of trial, in fact, that the counterclaim is
              taken seriously by the parties, including the plaintiffs,
    23        and by the court as a whole, to be taken seriously as soon
              as humanly possible, so that the trial is not damaged
    24        through procedural problems.  We do not know what case we
              have to meet.
    25
              We have said that McDonald's have an improper motive -- 
    26        well, we have not said -- sorry, we are drafting up a 
              reply.  We are waiting for their further and better 
    27        particulars.  But as we can see at the moment that on the
              eve of the trial there clearly was an improper motive for
    28        issuing these national leaflets or press releases.
 
    29        At the end of trial it is our belief that you will have
              the job of identifying on each point, point by point,
    30        first, whether we have proved something is true; second,
              whether the plaintiffs have proved something is untrue;

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