Day 182 - 02 Nov 95 - Page 41


     
     1        no real notice of, none of the detail; and it does really
     2        drive a coach and horses not only through your Lordship's
     3        recent ruling, but through the whole spirit of the rule
     4        that one must serve proper statements in advance of the
     5        witness's attendance at court.  The whole point is to give
     6        the other side a chance to prepare not just their own
     7        evidence, but for cross-examination.
     8
     9        That is really my complaint.  I can and will, if
    10        your Lordship would like me to, put some general
    11        propositions to the witness about the various matters he
    12        has raised without (so far as I am concerned) any notice,
    13        such as safety committees, rates of pay, overtime,
    14        ventilation systems, scheduling, rap sessions, and so on
    15        and so forth.  But your Lordship will understand, I hope,
    16        first, that I cannot put any detail, because there has not
    17        been time to get it -- and, anyway, the Norwegians did not
    18        have it to hand, naturally enough -- and, secondly, with
    19        this caveat, that some of what I have put may not be
    20        right.
    21
    22   MR. JUSTICE BELL: (To the witness):  You were expecting to be in
    23        England tomorrow, as well as today, were you?
    24
    25   THE WITNESS:   Yes.
    26
    27   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What I would invite you to do is go as far as
    28        you think you can this afternoon, and then make a decision
    29        as to whether you want Mr. Jenssen -- supposing we are not
    30        continuing until normal close of play -- whether you want
    31        Mr. Jenssen to return in the morning, which may give you
    32        some further opportunity to take instructions.
    33
    34   MR. RAMPTON:  Yes.  I doubt whether, on taking instructions on
    35        the telephone, I can get the sort of detail, really, that
    36        I would need.
    37
    38   MR. JUSTICE BELL: Well, I do not know the way things operate.
    39        I would have thought if you and those you require to assist
    40        you sat round a conference table in this country and
    41        Mr. Holm sat round one in Oslo, one could have taken
    42        instructions perfectly well.  You would not be able to be
    43        reading the same documents, if they are relevant, in
    44        English, but -----
    45
    46   MR. RAMPTON:  That is another problem of course, that I do not
    47        yet know -----
    48
    49   MR. JUSTICE BELL: Conference phones can be perfectly
    50        satisfactory; you can have a room full of -- I mean, they 
    51        are ordinary phones with just a button you press. 
    52 
    53   MR. RAMPTON:  I know that, but that is another problem.  I do
    54        not have -- and I do not think I can get them in the time
    55        available before tomorrow morning -- a translation of all
    56        these Norwegian documents.
    57
    58   MR. JUSTICE BELL: I would invite you to take that course; and
    59        everyone make a mental note that at some stage very soon
    60        I want to discuss the French witnesses, because at the

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