Day 149 - 06 Jul 95 - Page 53


     
     1
     2   MR. MORRIS:  If that be true, the Plaintiffs have been
     3        deliberately concealing vast numbers of press cuttings
     4        which they must have in their possession relating to all
     5        the pleadings that we have made, some of which were
     6        subjects of great public controversy in the country that
     7        they took place in.  Nobody will convince me in a million
     8        years that the McDonald's Corporation does not keep
     9        extensive press cutting files of all relevant cuttings
    10        about its business.  That is all I want to say.
    11
    12   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Look, I am not going to embark on yet another
    13        application for discovery.
    14
    15   MR. MORRIS:  No, I know.
    16
    17   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  All I will say is that, on the face of it,
    18        the note that Mr. Rampton has read does support his point.
    19        If you want to argue that it is wrong, then you must
    20        prepare a legal argument.  There are enumerable press
    21        cuttings in the papers, most of them put in by you, with a
    22        view to being able to pursue a line of enquiry which does
    23        seem to me to confirm Mr. Rampton's argument.
    24
    25        So, at the moment, having heard that, I am minded to think
    26        that you should disclose them, whether the line of enquiry
    27        would serve your purposes or serve McDonald's purposes.  If
    28        you have a specific reason for not disclosing them, then it
    29        must be raised so that I can rule upon it.
    30
    31        Do not, whatever you do, just take the stand, in the light
    32        of what has passed in the last few minutes since I offered
    33        a view of the matter, that you do not have to disclose.
    34
    35   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, a couple of other things.
    36
    37   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I mean, I really cannot see any harm from
    38        your point of view.  Throughout the case you have taken a
    39        high moral ground on these matters and I do not see why you
    40        should want to do other than disclose them.
    41
    42   MS. STEEL:  It is not that I have any problem with disclosing
    43        press cuttings.  The problem I see is, as the Plaintiffs
    44        keep saying, it is huge amount of work, for what purpose?
    45        Really, press cuttings are not going to prove anything.  My
    46        flat is more or less like a bomb site with the amount of
    47        papers from this case and press cuttings over the years and
    48        this, that and the other, some in files, some not in
    49        files.  It is just going to be a horrendous task to try to
    50        put them in some kind of order. 
    51 
    52   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.  Look at the rules again if you are 
    53        unsure about it.  The first thing is that they have to be
    54        listed.  That has to be done before we come to any question
    55        of whether they have then actually got to be produced or
    56        shown to the other side, and whether that is necessary for
    57        the just disposal of the case or the saving of cost, but
    58        they do have to be listed.
    59
    60   MS. STEEL:  That is where the problem is.  I cannot list them

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