Day 295 - 06 Nov 96 - Page 33
1 I am just flagging them up, if you have notes on them or
2 you come across them while you are reading other
3 transcripts.
4
5 I have very nearly finished. Is it possible to have five
6 minutes?
7
8 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
9
10 (Short Adjournment)
11
12 MR. MORRIS: Couple of final points, really. Just one comment
13 on the Civil Evidence Act notice statement of Toshio Hayshi
14 of McDonald's Japan Limited, where we had said that --
15 I can't remember his name now -- the head of McDonald's in
16 Japan had stated: "We put chemicals in our hamburgers to
17 make them tastier." I think that is part of our
18 pleadings. Mr. Hayshi responds -- he is not the person, so
19 he would not actually know if he said that anyway; and he
20 is from the Public Relations Department of McDonald's
21 there, so he would not actually know, also, about what
22 happens in the processing factory. But he does say that
23 they do not put chemicals in their meat patties, which is
24 something different from hamburgers. We could take the
25 view that there is -- what is the word -- semantic ---
26
27 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What evidence -----
28
29 MR. MORRIS: -- misunderstanding here.
30
31 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What evidence is there of chemicals in
32 the -----
33
34 MR. MORRIS: There is chemicals in the hamburgers, because they
35 put them in the sauces and in, for example, the flour
36 improver -----
37
38 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What evidence is there that the gentleman
39 from McDonald's in Japan did actually say that?
40
41 MR. MORRIS: I can't remember. It was based upon a direct
42 report in The Guardian on Saturday, April 28th, 1990. The
43 point is that there are chemicals in the hamburgers, not
44 necessarily in the actual meat patties. Whether he said it
45 or not, we could argue, is immaterial anyway in this case.
46 But, as far as I understand, the present law on hearsay,
47 you have discretion to adopt any document as admissible
48 evidence. What weight you give to it is up to you, but
49 -----
50
51 MR JUSTICE BELL: Well, there is a difficulty with a newspaper
52 report like that.
53
54 MR. MORRIS: Not when it is quoting someone from -----
55
56 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, perhaps I can help at this stage? The
57 new Act, though in force, does not apply as yet -- unless
58 there is some transitional provisions which make a
59 difference -- does not apply to any proceedings begun
60 before the Act came into force. That is number one. Number
