Day 073 - 13 Jan 95 - Page 47
1 they are drafted they become unchangeable except for
2 circumstances ----
3
4 MR. JUSTICE BELL: They do not become unchangeable. They are
5 very useful because you have to have something to work
6 around and one has to have an element of discipline.
7 Believe it or not, the end of the case you get further away
8 as you go through it if you are not careful and that is an
9 impossible position. In other words, you start, say, in
10 January 1994, you are aiming to finishing the evidence at
11 something like, let us suppose just for the sake of
12 illustrating the point, at the end of October, you hear a
13 month's evidence and instead of the end of trial being nine
14 months away, it is 11 months away.
15
16 There has to be some kind of schedule to aim at. There has
17 to be an element of discipline, even if it means abandoning
18 some points you would like to make, so that you concentrate
19 on those which you think are your best points and the most
20 relevant points, and you can cope with the material which
21 you have at the end of the evidence.
22
23 We must have a schedule to work from. What are you
24 suggesting? You want Thursday and Friday and Monday and
25 Tuesday, and then start Mr. Walker, do you?
26
27 MR. MORRIS: Or then start the Plaintiffs' case on the welfare
28 and hygiene issues, yes. If Mr. Walker is set down, that
29 is fine. The hygiene and welfare documents are extremely
30 substantial and basically two days is just not enough time
31 to prepare.
32
33 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am assuming you have done some preparation.
34
35 MR. MORRIS: For Mr. Gonzales we did not really go into the
36 documentation at all; it was very general matters. So,
37 effectively, the time we have had to prepare has been for
38 this part of the case, the packaging and forestry. We are
39 not objecting to a schedule being drafted, but we are
40 trying to do it in co-operation with the other party. A
41 draft should be sent to us first and then we can make
42 suggestions and try to come to a mutual agreement before it
43 becomes the draft schedule or the proposed schedule. We
44 are trying to have a realistic schedule. I know it is
45 difficult in this case. In fact, hygiene and animal
46 welfare are two separate issues, although the same people
47 are -----
48
49 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I have to say, thinking about the matter
50 during the vacation, it is obvious that food poisoning, as
51 it has been called, and rearing and slaughter go very much
52 hand-in-hand on some of their aspects. What is the
53 situation so far as Mr. Chambers and Mr. Walker are
54 concerned, Mr. Rampton?
55
56 MR. RAMPTON: Mr. Chambers has said that he will come, if the
57 court should wish it, on 23rd January. My Lord, quite
58 apart from his convenience -- as your Lordship knows he is
59 not a McDonald's person; he is employed not even by a
60 supplier, a direct supplier.
