Day 259 - 10 Jun 96 - Page 70
1 dutifully -----
2
3 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Well, that is my ruling.
4
5 MR. RAMPTON: If that is your Lordship's ruling, I dutifully
6 obey. I will say this, though: so far as other dates when
7 the inquiry agents attended meetings -- according to the
8 criteria that I have used for relevance -- so far as other
9 dates are concerned which it is not intended that they
10 should make any reference to in evidence, so that the
11 information relating to those other dates which is nothing
12 to do with McDonald's or the Defendants directly, so far as
13 those dates are concerned, they have not been deployed in
14 evidence. Therefore, if we are right about the law of
15 privilege, those documents remain privileged.
16
17 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I can see there might be an argument about
18 that, but I will have to hear it in due course. If there is
19 some reason to suppose that they have not actually been
20 deployed in evidence in the statements of the witnesses
21 which I assume you are going to put in as their
22 evidence-in-chief, there may be something material there;
23 then there may be an argument -- I think style and
24 Style and Hollander calls it the cherry picking principle
25 -- in relation to waiver.
26
27 MR. RAMPTON: I would accept that that was an argument to be
28 had. But where (a) they are not to be deployed in evidence
29 and (b) they contain nothing relating directly to the
30 Defendants or to McDonald's, then I decline to disclose
31 them.
32
33 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It may well be -- and I am specifically
34 reserving this ruling to the notes of 17th May -- it may
35 well mean that I will need some persuasion, as I have been
36 persuaded in this case or, rather, persuaded myself in this
37 case, that there is some potential relevance which does
38 merit discovery.
39
40 MR. MORRIS: Another example which we were going to bring up at
41 a submission, that the meetings attended by Frances Tiller
42 and Michelle Hooker on behalf of the Plaintiffs, although
43 they are our witnesses -- sorry, Frances Tiller is our
44 witness -- their notes must be relevant.
45
46 MS. STEEL: Of the meetings which are already in evidence or in
47 issue.
48
49 MR. MORRIS: Or even other meetings. But, yes, the point is
50 that the notes that they made must be relevant, and then we
51 get on to the argument of privilege.
52
53 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Who has those notes?
54
55 MR. MORRIS: They were given to the Plaintiffs.
56
57 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you know that the Plaintiffs have those
58 notes?
59
60 MR. RAMPTON: No, the Defendants do not know that the Plaintiffs
