Day 188 - 15 Nov 95 - Page 55
1 MS. STEEL: That was the aim of it.
2
3 MR. MORRIS: That was the aim of it.
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is a challenge to the witness's
6 credibility, because Mr. Rampton's instructions, I assume
7 -- and I have no reason to doubt it -- are that this
8 witness is lying. But I do not doubt a witness's
9 credibility just because it is suggested to him that he is
10 lying. I have to go on and think about it, and look and
11 see what ammunition there is for the allegation that he is
12 lying.
13
14 I would have thought that all you need concern yourselves
15 about is, if no ammunition is provided, you might say to
16 yourselves, "We can be pretty confident that the judge will
17 not attach any weight to the allegation." So that is the
18 situation there.
19
20 I mean, I can look at Mr. Lamti's evidence and if Mr.
21 Rampton said, "I suggest what he said there is inconsistent
22 with what he said there", then I can take that into account
23 in assessing the weight. But I do not begin to doubt a
24 witness's credibility just because someone representing the
25 other side has said to him: "I put it to you that you are
26 lying."
27
28 MR. MORRIS: Yes, but it is a shortcut. The fact is, McDonald's
29 have not challenged any of the witness's evidence and they
30 cannot say: "Oh, we did challenge his evidence, because we
31 accused him of lying." The point is, they made ------
32
33 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What are you worrying about it for, then?
34
35 MR. MORRIS: I am just saying that we are making that point
36 clear, so that it is understood. If Mr. Rampton is going
37 to challenge the evidence of our witnesses, he cannot do it
38 by a shortcut, by saying they are lying, because the only
39 proper way -- this is what I was told -- is, if you accuse
40 someone of lying, you have to then go through all the
41 details of what you are saying.
42
43 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Well, you have been misinformed.
44
45 MS. STEEL: Can I just say something? We are not worried about
46 it in terms of discrediting Mr. Lamti's evidence, because
47 I think it is clear as day that the Plaintiffs have not got
48 a leg to stand on; they cannot even call a witness over
49 here. But Mr. Lamti was upset by it; and I do recall that
50 when Mr. Morris was cross-examining Mr. Walker and
51 suggested to him that he was lying because of something
52 that he had said in an inconsistency, Mr. Rampton objected
53 to that and said that he ought to have a good basis for
54 accusing him.
55
56 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I remember intervening there, but the only
57 reason I intervened was to make sure that Mr. Morris
58 understood that it is not proper to make an allegation that
59 someone is lying unless you have some basis for it. You do
60 not have to reveal the basis, but I just wanted to make
