Day 115 - 06 Apr 95 - Page 62


     
     1   MR. MORRIS:  Yes, all the four.
     2
     3   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Do you have their names now?  You are not
     4        obliging yourself actually to call them.
     5
     6   MR. MORRIS:  I cannot remember them, but I think if we receive
     7        letters where people say they are not coming, then that is
     8        fine, but I do not see what it proves.  The problem is not
     9        that we get letters saying "We are going to attend", but
    10        what happens to the people who do not reply.  I think it
    11        would be -----
    12
    13   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  We have not come to that problem yet.  That
    14        is probably for the beginning of next term.  In fact,
    15        whether four is enough to carry out any useful operation at
    16        this stage or not I do not know.  If you have the names of
    17        the four, it might at least tell those who represent
    18        McDonald's that whatever other decision they make about who
    19        they call and do not call, they are faced with the prospect
    20        of those people actually giving evidence, do you see?
    21        Depending on who they are, they may between them cover a
    22        number of topics which are raised in the witness statements
    23        which you have served.
    24
    25   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.
    26
    27   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I do not think you are being trapped in any
    28        way.
    29
    30   MR. MORRIS:  It is just at the moment the Plaintiffs are to meet
    31        the case of all our witness statements.
    32
    33   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  The trouble is I am not accepting that as
    34        such, because we have got an awful lot of potential
    35        witnesses there.  At the moment I am not at all persuaded
    36        that the Plaintiffs should be obliged to call all their
    37        witnesses against the mere prospect that you might call all
    38        or most of yours.  What I am contemplating at the moment is
    39        that certainly they should call witnesses to deal with
    40        those who indicated on these forms they are going to come;
    41        that I should allow them not to call witnesses dealing with
    42        the evidence which your other witnesses might give but
    43        allow them to call evidence in rebuttal, if need be, if
    44        those people are called.  I am not going to have a full
    45        discussion about it now.
    46
    47   MR. MORRIS:  I think that is extremely unfair, with respect, and
    48        we would like to make our submission on that at some
    49        stage.  I just think that is a real ambush by the
    50        Plaintiffs to ----- 
    51 
    52   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I have said I do not want to discuss it now 
    53        because it may never in fact come to that.  Suppose, for
    54        instance, you had but a third of your potential witnesses
    55        who completed the form and said that they are intending to
    56        come.  Those third amongst them might, in fact, deal with
    57        every point or virtually every point upon which the
    58        Plaintiffs might want to call evidence, so that would be
    59        quite enough among the limited number of witnesses to put
    60        the obligation on the Plaintiffs to call their evidence

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