Day 072 - 12 Jan 95 - Page 67


     
     1        before your Lordship in the proper form, why, then we will
     2        deal with it.
     3
     4        That said, I see absolutely no reason to give any kind of
     5        undertaking whatsoever.  I am not saying what would happen,
     6        but I can imagine circumstances in which the company would
     7        be quite at liberty to sack somebody who had come to this
     8        court to give evidence.  I say no more about it than that.
     9
    10   MS. STEEL:   Can Mr. Rampton explain what he means by that?
    11        I did not understand that at all.
    12
    13   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I can imagine that if someone came to court
    14        and demonstrably had knowingly given false evidence against
    15        their employer, some employers would find that quite
    16        inconsistent with the continuing employee-employer
    17        relationship.  All I can say is that if they come to court
    18        and give evidence either on their oath or affirmation,
    19        which evidence is truthful to the best of their knowledge
    20        and belief, then they should have nothing to fear.
    21
    22        I just cannot -- I do not think it is right for me to ask
    23        for undertakings or assurances from McDonald's.  It is not
    24        an arena I want to enter into.  I do not think -- as a
    25        Judge, I cannot in advance give them any kind of guarantee
    26        or protection, save to say if they have honest and helpful
    27        evidence to give, and relevant evidence to give, it might
    28        well be part of their public duty to do so, but I feel
    29        apprehensive about even saying that.  I certainly do not
    30        think I can ask for any assurance or undertaking from any
    31        party.
    32
    33        It is a difficult situation; people have just got to have
    34        the courage of their convictions.
    35
    36   MS. STEEL:  For the sake of clarity -----
    37
    38   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You can certainly -- you have certain powers
    39        to obtain directions that people actually do attend to give
    40        evidence.  There might be circumstances in which I would
    41        allow you to call somebody into the witness box without
    42        actually providing a written statement in advance.  I can
    43        imagine a situation might arise, for instance, where
    44        someone has told you this, that or the other had happened,
    45        then got cold feet and did not want to make a written
    46        statement.  If you told me that was so, I might very well
    47        say:  "Right, you do not have to serve a statement in
    48        advance; you can have a subpoena" which means a court order
    49        they actually attend.  You can call them into the witness
    50        box and ask them questions.  Of course, they might then be 
    51        co-operative or they might be not co-operative. 
    52 
    53   MR. MORRIS:  I had one understanding which is that if you called
    54        someone by subpoena they are, effectively, a hostile
    55        witness.
    56
    57   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No, that does not follow at all.  In fact,
    58        there are very many situations where people indicate they
    59        would prefer to be subpoenaed, so that vis-a-vis the
    60        opposing party or, indeed, the rest of the world, they can

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