Day 130 - 26 May 95 - Page 80


     
     1        court time and your Lordship just puts a line through it --
     2        and ask him, perhaps, a few questions about matters which
     3        need to be clarified in some way or another.
     4
     5   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  My anxiety about that -- I am perfectly
     6        content with that so far as the first parts of the
     7        statement are concerned, I am not at the moment attracted
     8        by that so far as the part which comments on the witnesses
     9        is concerned, because I can then see that Ms. Steel and
    10        Mr. Morris would be tempted to (and may even feel bound)
    11        pick him up on some of the comments he has made about their
    12        potential witnesses.  Then I am going to be jumping in all
    13        the time and reassuring them and saying:  "You need not ask
    14        Mr. Purslow about that because that is pre-eminently a
    15        matter for me" or "that is a matter of ordinary sense and
    16        judgment, not a matter for expertise".
    17
    18        I mean, I have partly got in mind the forestry evidence we
    19        had because of this, because the forestry evidence took a
    20        great deal more time than it need have done, perhaps for a
    21        variety of reasons, but one of which may have been that
    22        your witness whose name I have completely forgotten ---
    23
    24   MR. RAMPTON:  Mr. Mallinson.
    25
    26   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  -- yes, was asked to verify his statement and
    27        then, I have no doubt out of anxiety that there was
    28        something in there which might or might not be relevant
    29        that would go unchallenged unless they asked about it, Ms.
    30        Steel and Mr. Morris cross-examined on matters which,
    31        reading this leaflet, at the end of the day, are probably
    32        not going to be germane at all.
    33
    34   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, then I will leave it -----
    35
    36   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  By all means, if I may say so, it is
    37        ultimately a matter for you as counsel taking the witness,
    38        put in that which is clearly an expert report as his
    39        evidence-in-chief, but I would urge you to keep off the
    40        comments on the Defendants' witness statements save in so
    41        far as you want his particular expertise on evidence which
    42        may come.
    43
    44   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, I would have done that anyway, but I will
    45        do it that way because then if there is nothing in-chief on
    46        that part of his statement, then the Defendants, and your
    47        Lordship of course, can be confident that there is no issue
    48        arising there so far as his evidence is concerned.
    49
    50   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.  The answer to that is that if it is 
    51        crossing your mind to ask Mr. Purslow about something which 
    52        is in one of your witness's statements and, therefore, you 
    53        have reason to believe one of your witnesses may give in
    54        evidence, whether by Civil Evidence Act statement or in the
    55        witness box, there is no need to do that if what you are
    56        saying is, really, a point of common sense and every day
    57        judgment.
    58
    59        If what you want to do is try to get out of Mr. Purslow an
    60        expert's view, that is something which relies upon his

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