Day 165 - 27 Sep 95 - Page 37


     
     1        back-to-back or, say, within a few days of each other so
     2        that they are fresh in our memories.
     3
     4   MR. RAMPTON:  If your Lordship thought that at the end of the
     5        day -- I do not use that in the cliche sense; I mean at the
     6        end of today -- after hearing everything that everybody
     7        says, what we could try to do, for example, is to put them
     8        in after the Canadian witnesses and just before the
     9        Defendants' French witnesses, for example.  That is another
    10        possibility.  But then again, as I say, I do not know what
    11        Sarah Ingliss' dates are so far as the Defendants are
    12        concerned.
    13
    14   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Thank you.
    15
    16   MR. MORRIS:  We were aware that there were difficulties and it
    17        is fair to say we have difficulties as well.  We did say to
    18        the Plaintiffs that we could not really begin scheduling
    19        our witnesses to any significant degree until we knew their
    20        schedule.  So, although certain witnesses we did ask to
    21        look into coming on specific dates, some of those dates are
    22        now open to question.  So it is difficult for me to
    23        actually say anything specific about particular days.
    24
    25   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What I would like you to do is make some
    26        suggestions.  There are two possible approaches; that we
    27        work very hard at trying to finish the bulk of the
    28        employment witnesses on both sides, although I see no
    29        reason why they should not to some extent intermingle.
    30        I will not be unreceptive if they do intermingle, that is,
    31        if you are in a position where you call some of yours
    32        before Mr. Rampton calls some of the McDonald's ones,
    33        I would be quite receptive to you saying:  "All right, but
    34        in so far as we have a specific area like Ireland or Canada
    35        or France, even if we do intermingle, we would like the
    36        Plaintiffs' witnesses in that specific area before our
    37        witnesses in that specific area."   Subject to some comment
    38        of that sort, I do not see why you should not start calling
    39        witnesses while there are still the Plaintiffs' witnesses
    40        to come if you can get them here.
    41
    42        We can work very hard on that approach, or we can say
    43        without any criticism on one side or another:  "It is
    44        proving to be too difficult to do that way", so we will
    45        just let Mr. Rampton get on with calling the balance of his
    46        witnesses in so far as you say:  "Now we have managed to
    47        organise so and so for these dates of our witnesses, can we
    48        interpose them?" In other words, abandoning the process the
    49        procedure we have followed so far of doing subject by
    50        subject.  I would rather stick to the procedure we have 
    51        followed so far, if it is possible to do it. 
    52 
    53   MR. MORRIS:  Yes, that would certainly be our position, because
    54        it is a nightmare trying to cope with -----
    55
    56   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  We have all to contemplate the possibility
    57        that it may not be possible to do it.  That is the only
    58        point I am making.  What do you suggest then?
    59
    60   MR. MORRIS:  My son's half term is in the week of the 23rd.

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