Day 311 - 06 Dec 96 - Page 31
1 MR. MORRIS: Can we comment on the point of law on this,
2 because-----
3
4 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, I am going to give you an opportunity to
5 respond as a matter of law and you must wait for your turn
6 to do that.
7
8 MR. MORRIS: Yes. The problem is there is so much that has come
9 up in the submissions and in this week. You know, it is
10 just sort of sweeping past us, and to some extent the court
11 is entirely -- not entirely but predominantly -- relying on
12 Mr. Rampton, it has done-----
13
14 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am not predominantly relying. I rely on
15 Mr. Rampton to help me if he can. You are going to have an
16 opportunity early next week, because you have told me you
17 are going to give your written submissions on law on
18 Monday, to address me upon points of law.
19
20 MR. MORRIS: The point I am making is we are just physically not
21 capable of dealing with all these matters that the amount
22 of matters, the amount of research it would take, we are
23 completely unrepresented, unexperienced, and-----
24
25 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I do not accept that.
26
27 MR. MORRIS: But we are, as a fact.
28
29 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Very few matters of law have cropped up.
30 This is one of them, on the admissibility of evidence. You
31 do not have a right of reply on questions of fact.
32
33 MR. MORRIS: I am talking about law.
34
35 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. But the number of questions of law are
36 very limited. You had nearly all of them since October,
37 anyway, in the legal submissions and it is really only in
38 so far as I put matters to Mr. Rampton that he might have
39 added something to them.
40
41 MR. MORRIS: There is a lot of material in his submissions as
42 well. I mean, he seems to be, you know, obviously,
43 fighting for his clients' interests to the Nth degree, and
44 we do not know whether what he is saying on the law and his
45 interpretations of the law and the extent of that he is
46 pushing it, is, in fact, the whole picture or even the
47 picture at all, and we just cannot deal with it.
48
49 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You have had Mr. Rampton's submissions in law
50 since some time fairly early in October. You have told me
51 that you have, in fact, consulted with people who have some
52 legal expertise about those and you are going to give me
53 some submissions in law which, I assume, will deal, if you
54 wish to do so, with what he gave you, Mr. Rampton gave you
55 in writing in October, and any other points you want to
56 make.
57
58 The number of questions of law which have arisen, either in
59 what Mr. Rampton has put in his written submissions or what
60 he has said to me in answer to my queries, are very limited
