Day 242 - 29 Apr 96 - Page 52
1
2 (Short adjournment)
3
4 MS. STEEL: There are a couple of things which I do not think
5 will take very long. The first one is on page 8 of the
6 Voluntary Particulars of Defence to Counterclaim. That is
7 the first set.
8
9 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Are those the ones in the new bundle?
10
11 MS. STEEL: They are not the ones that were served recently.
12
13 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No.
14
15 MR. ATKINSON: They should be at tab 7, I think, my Lord. They
16 are the ones on 10th March of last year.
17
18 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
19
20 MS. STEEL: This could be left until the end of the trial, but
21 it just seems that there is absolutely no evidence at all
22 for the first part of (ix), which is the first full
23 paragraph on that page. The first part of (ix) is
24 incorrect, but the second part there is absolutely no
25 evidence of that at all anywhere that I have seen, and
26
27 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That Mr. Morris attended the ----
28
29 MS. STEEL: I am on page 8. It says:
30
31 "The fact that during the course of the trial the
32 Defendants have had in their possession in court a file of
33 copy transcripts of the proceedings marked 'returned to
34 them McLibel 2' or words to like effect" and that we did
35 say on a previous occasion it said "returned to the McLibel
36 Defendants", but the second part of that paragraph there
37 absolutely no evidence for that at all.
38
39 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Let me just read it again. Do you mean the
40 third sentence?
41
42 MS. STEEL: "It is to be inferred that that file has been used by
43 the Defendants and/or their supporters in the McLibel
44 support campaign" -- and then something in brackets -- "in
45 order to produce material for the McLibel support
46 campaign".
47
48 There is absolutely no evidence of that anywhere. I have
49 not really gone through this with a fine toothcomb. At the
50 end of the day, we have absolutely nothing to hide about
51 the purposes of those files, so I am not particularly
52 worried.
53
54 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Is that the only one you are particularly
55 concerned with?
56
57 MS. STEEL: The only other thing that I was a bit concerned
58 about, having just spotted it, is that on page 12, the very
59 last sentence under 7(b): "It is the Plaintiffs' contention
60 that the Defendants and each of them as members of
