Day 057 - 29 Nov 94 - Page 52
1 Plaintiffs have stated that these examples are not given to
2 limit the evidence. In other words, they may well call
3 other evidence and make other points than the ones made
4 here.
5
6 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Let me read that through. Yes.
7
8 MS. STEEL: That answer at the top of page 6 is in answer to 8,
9 9 and 10 because it is before No. 8 starts. As I say, it
10 says that they are not giving the particulars to limit the
11 evidence which implies that a later stage they may not
12 bring in extra bits and pieces. As I understand it, the
13 whole point of pleading your case is so that the other side
14 knows what your case is. That is my first concern where
15 I do not feel they have given a satisfactory answer to the
16 question.
17
18 I am also worried about on page 7: "The Second Plaintiff
19 hereby gives notice that in seeking to justify the
20 contention that the Defendants have been involved in
21 publishing false statements or lies or untruths, it will
22 not refer in evidence to allegations by the Defendants
23 distinct from those in issue in the main action". I am not
24 clear whether that means what is in their Statement of
25 Claim in the main action or whether that is what is in the
26 whole of the pleadings in the main action.
27
28 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I had interpreted it as in the whole of the
29 pleadings.
30
31 MS. STEEL: If that is the case then that would mean that, well,
32 that would have implications for discovery as we were
33 arguing earlier this year where the Plaintiffs have said
34 they are not providing documents to help us prove our case,
35 they would now have to provide those documents
36
37 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You had better explain that further to me.
38 What I understand them to say is that there is no evidence
39 to justify what was said in the leaflet in certain respects
40 which they complain of, and if at the end of the day there
41 is no evidence I am to infer from that that you knew there
42 was no evidence that you were lying. That is part of what
43 you were saying.
44
45 MS. STEEL: We have been into this before. At the end of the
46 day if something is not proved that is not the same as,
47 well, it is not the same as it is not true and it is also
48 not the same as we were lying. But most importantly it is
49 not the same as saying it was not true. It may just be
50 that we were not able to find a witness or something like
51 that to prove it to the satisfaction of this court, but
52 that would not necessarily mean that it was untrue.
53
54 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Surely your strongest point is that whether
55 it was actually true or not, you say you believed it was.
56 Mr. Rampton has apparently got some argument that you can
57 lie recklessly.
58
59 MS. STEEL: It is also about recklessness. If the fact of the
60 matter is that it is in fact true -- I cannot specifically
