Day 107 - 24 Mar 95 - Page 19


     
     1        All I am saying now is that you should identify what it
     2        is.  I appreciate the PHLS report is the source of it, but
     3        what are the additional, more precise facts which you want
     4        to actually prove or have admitted to advance your case of
     5        Justification and Fair Comment in relation to food
     6        poisoning and in order to ask expert witnesses what they
     7        make of it.
     8
     9        It does not help me to deal with the problem raised to
    10        say:  "Well, this is a scientific report; it is no
    11        different from any other" or "We have served a Civil
    12        Evidence Act Notice".  One has to back to those grass roots
    13        first of all.
    14
    15   MS. STEEL:   The thing is that we are being frustrated at every
    16        turn because when we tried to bring this up before we were
    17        told:  "It is not evidence.  Serve a Civil Evidence Act.
    18        If there is no counter notice, it will then be evidence".
    19        Now we have done that, it is just being ignored.
    20
    21   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It is not being ignored.  You have to isolate
    22        what the particular things in the report are which you want
    23        in this instance to put to this witness and plead as
    24        Particulars of Justification and Fair Comment in due
    25        course.
    26
    27   MS. STEEL:  As Dave has said, there is a limit to how much we
    28        can do.  If we are going to be put to that, we will need
    29        more breaks to sort that out.  It is the reality.  We can
    30        either carry on and try to deal with this in some kind
    31        of -- I do not know -- or we can just grind to a halt
    32        getting bogged down with procedures that really are not
    33        necessary.  The conclusions Mr. Morris put -----
    34
    35   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I am afraid you have to accept they are
    36        necessary if I rule that they are.
    37
    38   MS. STEEL:  Mr. Morris put other incidents to Mr. North this
    39        morning.  It happens all the time, that expert witnesses
    40        are asked, if they have any conclusions to draw about this
    41        incident or that incident.  There is nothing unusual about
    42        it.  I think it is just another stalling technique by the
    43        Plaintiffs to try to prevent us -----
    44
    45   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  The fact is, as I have said before, when you
    46        have raised objection to something Mr. Rampton has sought
    47        to do or to elicit from a witness, I have dealt with it as
    48        it occurs.  When he raises objection, I must do exactly the
    49        same thing and he has raised an objection to this.  It is
    50        not, in my view, in any way an improper objection, so 
    51        I must rule on it when it is raised. 
    52 
    53   MS. STEEL:   Perhaps because of ----
    54
    55   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What do you want to do?  Do you want to take
    56        up my invitation that you can get to the same result, as
    57        far as Mr. North is concerned (because he is the witness
    58        whose evidence we are hearing at the moment) by putting
    59        specific matters of fact?
    60

Prev Next Index