Day 157 - 18 Jul 95 - Page 10
1 MS. STEEL: There is a bearing in law in that it can be a
2 contempt of court to carry out an act calculated to
3 prejudice the due course of justice. Mr. Rampton last week
4 was trying to get us to sign an undertaking that we would
5 not show copies or make copies to send to our witnesses or
6 legal advisers. The fact is there is absolutely no
7 provision for him to be able to -- for any kind of
8 undertaking, and it is a complete abuse of process and an
9 abuse of his position in the court to make such a
10 suggestion that we should give that undertaking.
11
12 We were intending to come back to that.
13
14 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I do not accept that for the simple reason
15 that the whole question of you getting it upon undertakings
16 was a possible solution to the problem you were saying you
17 suffered from, so far as the conduct of your case was
18 concerned, if I ruled against your application to order
19 that you should have copies of the transcript. But,
20 however that may be, you are supposed to be trying to help
21 me to a correct decision today.
22
23 MR. MORRIS: Yes.
24
25 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Therefore, we must work on the basis of
26 things as they are today, which means on the basis, if you
27 choose to address me on that part of the subject at all, of
28 Barlow's recent letter.
29
30 MS. STEEL: I just wanted to say something, that he did say it
31 was a breach of copyright to make copies of the transcripts
32 to give them to our witnesses and legal advisers, but that
33 was misleading the court because copyright did not trouble
34 them when they wanted to make copies to give to Mr. Alan
35 Long or Mr. Beavers.
36
37 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I must stop you because we had an argument
38 about this on 4th July and I gave a judgment on 4th July.
39 What you are doing is coming back, which I said you could
40 do, if you want, to present a new argument. You must
41 present the argument on the basis of the state of affairs
42 as it is now. Otherwise, you are just not helping me to
43 whatever the right conclusion is at all.
44
45 MR. MORRIS: OK. Mr. Rampton had said on 4th July, page 31,
46 line 48: "... explain the purpose of an undertaking", which
47 they are now still saying, although it is in different
48 terms than it previously was: "What it would prevent (and
49 this is what this is all about) is their disseminating it"
50 -- any transcript of abstracts, that is -- "to journalists
51 and the McLibel Support campaign and similar like-minded
52 -----", then he was interrupted but, presumably, "people".
53
54
55 So far as we are concerned, in a public trial such as this,
56 of enormous public interest, that the public and press have
57 an absolute right of access to the evidence that is heard
58 in court. We will not accept any restriction on our
59 ability to verify quotes that journalists may wish to use
60 to make sure they are accurate.
