Day 205 - 17 Jan 96 - Page 35
1 MR. MORRIS: Now, Ed Rensi, Wall Street Journal, related to the
2 document which should be the last of a series of
3 statements. It is an article in the Wall Street Journal.
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am afraid I have left them in my room. You
6 tell me about it, Mr. Morris.
7
8 MR. MORRIS: Would it be more helpful to go on to something
9 else?
10
11 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, I think so.
12
13 MR. MORRIS: That one has specific sentences referred to.
14
15 MR. RAMPTON: Anyway, I have not had a chance to look at that.
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17 MR. MORRIS: We served a statement of Siamak Alimi.
18
19 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I have read that. What is your proposal in
20 relation to that? Are you asking for leave to recall him?
21
22 MR. MORRIS: Is that the appropriate course? If the Civil
23 Evidence Act notice was put on that and not challenged,
24 would that be appropriate?
25
26 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Well, you can take that course if you wish.
27 You can either ask for leave to recall him, so that he is
28 brought back into the witness box and affirms his
29 statement, or you can serve the statement on
30 Barlow Lyde & Gilbert and wait and see if there is a
31 counternotice, and then ask for leave to call him.
32
33 MR. MORRIS: Effectively, that is what we have done. We have
34 given notice that it is a Civil Evidence Act notice
35 matter. We have served the statement, and I will say now
36 that that is what our intention was; mainly, really, as a
37 way of saving expense and court time. I think everyone
38 knows what the issues are. But as long as that is clearly
39 the position now, then the Plaintiffs can challenge it if
40 they wish.
41
42 What I was not sure of was what the grounds of the Civil
43 Evidence Act notice could be, apart from abroad or -- you
44 do not have to have grounds?
45
46 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You do not have to have a ground to serve the
47 notice.
48
49 MR. MORRIS: I did not know that.
50
51 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If you want one of those grounds, you have a
52 copper bottom right essentially to call the witness. But
53 you can serve a Civil Evidence Act notice in respect of any
54 witness and wait and see whether you get a counternotice.
55 Obviously, if the witness evidence is potentially important
56 and you can put the witness in the witness box, it is
57 better to do so because, by and large, it is easier to
58 attach weight to a credible witness from the witness box
59 than it is -----
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