Day 157 - 18 Jul 95 - Page 11


     
     1
     2        Indeed, the press can buy transcripts themselves.  Should
     3        they wish, they could buy the complete transcripts of the
     4        whole trial.  Indeed, if I can just remind you that you
     5        made a comment that you would not be prejudiced by anything
     6        you read about this case outside of the court.
     7
     8   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No.  That is one thing you need not worry
     9        about.  With due respect to the media, the last thing in
    10        the world I am going to do is decide this on what I read in
    11        a newspaper rather than what I have heard from the witness
    12        box and in the argument.
    13
    14   MR. MORRIS:  So in that case we believe that there is absolutely
    15        no avenue that the Plaintiffs can possibly take, let alone
    16        justify, to fetter the press access to the evidence in this
    17        case.  Should they wish to do that, there are specific laws
    18        for that purpose and we believe there is no basis for them
    19        to use their frustration, or whatever, by hitting at us and
    20        doing what, effectively, would sabotage our incourt
    21        preparations by denying us access to a transcript.
    22
    23   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What may be said against you is that you are,
    24        in fact, not being denied access to the transcript.  You
    25        would be allowed access to the transcript for the purpose
    26        of using it in the conduct of the proceedings, so you would
    27        not be limited and embarrassed in that sense, that what you
    28        want is a step too far to McDonald's is to use it for
    29        purposes other than your conduct of the case in court.
    30
    31        You have to separate the two.  You have, if you observe the
    32        conditions in McDonald's letter written and delivered to
    33        you by hand only yesterday, the right to the transcripts.
    34        What I want to know, since the main theme of your
    35        application is that you will be handicapped in the conduct
    36        of the action in court, how you will be handicapped in the
    37        conduct of the action in court if you meet the conditions
    38        in Barlow's letter?
    39
    40   MS. STEEL:  I think that the Plaintiffs' letter and application
    41        last week should be recognised as a complete sham.
    42        Initially they said it was a matter of copyright and we
    43        were breaching copyright.  Then they were forced to
    44        recognise that actually we were not breaching copyright and
    45        there was no action they could take along that line.  Then
    46        they said it was a matter of they did not see why they
    47        should pay for them.  That was a complete sham because when
    48        we made an application last week that the Plaintiffs should
    49        agree to us getting the transcripts if we paid the cheaper
    50        rate, but getting them immediately rather than three weeks 
    51        later, Mr. Rampton still objected and said that the 
    52        Plaintiffs were not going to agree to that. 
    53
    54        We have offered to photocopy the Plaintiffs' copies
    55        ourselves so that it does not cost them a penny.  The point
    56        is there is only one reason for this application and that
    57        is to interfere with our preparations for the case and to
    58        stop us cross-examining as effectively as we have been
    59        doing, having brought this case to trial.
    60

Prev Next Index