Day 149 - 06 Jul 95 - Page 43


     
     1        agreed unless you say otherwise.  Experience tells me that
     2        we find ourselves halfway through speeches and a document
     3        will be referred to and you might say:  "Oh, well, we did
     4        not mean to accept that."  No one could criticise you for
     5        that, because it would be very easy to miss; and then it
     6        would be too late to do anything about it.
     7
     8   MR. MORRIS:  If we can get a list from Mrs. Brinley-Codd, a
     9        complete list of computer generated documents, we will try
    10        to check them all up.
    11
    12   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, I should say that we do not propose to
    13        make a list of whatever documents the Defendants might want
    14        to rely on, because we have no idea what they might be.
    15
    16   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  If I were you, what I would do is wait for
    17        Mr. Rampton's list and then think of what other ones of the
    18        same kind may not be on that list which you would want to
    19        rely on.
    20
    21   MR. RAMPTON:  In the absence of which, we shall object to the
    22        admissibility of all the documents on the Defendants' side
    23        which are not properly verified in any way.
    24
    25   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What I suggest you do is wait to get the
    26        Plaintiffs' list, go through that and see which ones you
    27        are prepared to accept as accurate for the purposes of the
    28        litigation.  All you need to do is put a tick against
    29        those, and a cross against those you positively dispute,
    30        and leave blank the ones which you might like to discuss
    31        further.  Then produce your own list of any additional
    32        documents.  If you are concerned about where we have got
    33        to, then raise it again so that we can discuss it further.
    34
    35   MS. STEEL:   The documents about length of time of service of
    36        employees; Mr. Rampton said that Mr. Stein must be right,
    37        or something.  I think that the Plaintiffs should ensure
    38        that checks are made to find out whether or not these
    39        documents do exist, because it could equally be that
    40        Mr. Stein is wrong.  He was wrong about some other
    41        matters.  I do not think it should be the assumption that
    42        Mr. Beavers is wrong and Mr. Stein is right.  I think there
    43        should be a thorough check made for all those documents.
    44
    45        Data on the number of people leaving versus the number of
    46        people that are employed; I am not entirely sure what
    47        Mr. Rampton was saying.  He seemed to be saying that
    48        turnover figures were irrelevant.
    49
    50   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What I understood Mr. Rampton to be saying is 
    51        this: the relevance of turnover figures, if relevance there 
    52        is, is that it can be argued that a high turnover shows 
    53        dissatisfaction by crew with their terms and conditions of
    54        employment.  So although there is a statement, a factual
    55        statement, about turnover in the leaflet, it is in that
    56        respect (if any) that it would relate to a defamatory
    57        meaning.  Therefore, he says it is not as if it is in the
    58        direct forefront of the case.  It has that secondary
    59        possible importance, and one should take that into account
    60        in deciding whether the work involved is necessary for the

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