Day 079 - 27 Jan 95 - Page 71


     
     1
     2   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What can you say about that?
     3
     4   MS. STEEL:  I think we should be finished on Monday, although
     5        I would not want to give 100 per cent cast-iron guarantee.
     6
     7   MR. RAMPTON:  I do not understand.  If Ms. Steel is saying that
     8        she is going to go or there is some chance she might go
     9        past the end of Monday, frankly, I am appalled.  I was
    10        hoping we might finish by lunch-time on Monday so that I
    11        could start with one of the Scottish academics.
    12
    13   MS. STEEL:  I really would not want to -- I do not know.
    14        I would not want to guarantee that at all.  I do think we
    15        will be finished by Monday evening.
    16
    17   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, I know it is a peculiar case, this;
    18        I hope your Lordship will agree that I have been reasonably
    19        patient, but I do have in mind, as I know your Lordship
    20        has, the recent practice direction of the Lord Chief
    21        Justice.  One of the things to which he made specific
    22        reference was the length of cross-examination.  There are
    23        distinct and clear issues in this case.  I do say with some
    24        feeling that I do not believe that in the last two days we
    25        have spent more than about an eighth of the time on dealing
    26        with the issues in this case.
    27
    28   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I think it is only fair to say to Dr. Jackson
    29        that he does not need to be here before first thing on
    30        Tuesday morning.
    31
    32   MR. RAMPTON:  So it would appear.
    33
    34   MR. MORRIS:  May I say something on the length?  Most of today
    35        was taken up, in my opinion -- I have said it before --
    36        reinventing the wheel on the grounds that we have an
    37        admission from the Plaintiffs that they are responsible for
    38        a food poisoning incident in Preston in 1991, and then
    39        muddying the water so that we have to virtually start from
    40        scratch to prove what they have already admitted.
    41
    42        It is a problem in this case of the Plaintiffs' admissions
    43        being not what they seem, and also that they take some
    44        times the most ludicrous positions which defy common sense;
    45        for example, saying that the minimum wage is not low pay so
    46        that we have to justify things which, frankly, are a waste
    47        of everyone's time.
    48
    49   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Just pause there.  I cannot do very much
    50        about what the issues are in the case; the issues are there 
    51        and, therefore, they have to be tried out and the evidence 
    52        has to be called.  In recent months judges have started to 
    53        imposing time limits on the parties and said:  "You must
    54        get through this part of your case within that period of
    55        time and if you have not completed it, it is just too
    56        bad".
    57
    58        The Lord Chief Justice on Tuesday of this week issued a
    59        practice direction dealing with judges putting time limits
    60        on the parties.  This case is taking a long time.  If you

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