Day 073 - 13 Jan 95 - Page 19
1 paper entirely. That is an entirely different argument.
2 It not a matter for Mr. Hopkins at all. It is a matter for
3 your Lordship at the end of the day. The issues, as I see
4 them, are as I believe I have stated them. The reason
5 Mr. Mallinson gave a lot of evidence was because Mr. Morris
6 cross-examined him for two days.
7
8 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I have to say I am not sure that is exactly
9 right because you started off by putting the whole of his
10 -- that may or may not, if I may say so, have been a wise
11 decision in so far as one wants to limit the scope of
12 evidence in this case, because the fact is it goes in, the
13 whole lot of it, as part of your case.
14
15 MR. RAMPTON: I know it does, my Lord, but once one looks at the
16 issue in the case, the whole statement goes in. It has
17 happened repeatedly. One can see perfectly well there are
18 large areas of evidence given both orally and on paper by
19 many of them which, in the end, are not going to help your
20 Lordship in the very slightest.
21
22 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I know, but all I am saying in answer to what
23 you said, and I see some merit in it from one aspect, but
24 I can see that for your opponents it is difficult for them
25 to take short cuts when the fact is that part of the
26 evidence in your case is the whole of Mr. Mallinson's
27 statement in its revised form.
28
29 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, that may be so. That still does
30 not -----
31
32 MR. JUSTICE BELL: An alternative approach would be to say: "We
33 have all read your statement, the parts I want to be your
34 evidence-in-chief are" and then enumerate the paragraphs.
35 I appreciate that is said with the wisdom of hindsight in
36 the light of the stand you have taken this morning, but it
37 is probably worth saying for the future.
38
39 MR. RAMPTON: It does not really make any difference to the
40 submission I am now making. And I do make it formally now
41 because I am anxious to save time. I do not see any virtue
42 in sitting here while Mr. Morris goes through line by line,
43 paragraph by paragraph, what Mr. Hopkins has said in his
44 statement. I have made my position clear. I do not see
45 anything in Mr. Hopkins' statement which, so far as the
46 resolution of the issues in this case is concerned, I need
47 to ask him any questions about at all. Of course, it may
48 be that the conclusions which he draws about McDonald's
49 responsibility for this, that and the other will be
50 different from those that I or your Lordship may draw at
51 the end of the case. But those are mere inferences on the
52 factual or expert basis of what he says in his report.
53 I see no reason to take issue with him on those issues,
54 simply because they do not really bear on McDonald's
55 responsibility for the destruction of forests.
56
57 For that reason, I have seen no virtue -- and I submit your
58 Lordship should not allow Mr. Morris to go through in open
59 court on his feet while we all sit here -- no doubt there
60 are some things we can usefully employ ourselves to do
