Day 305 - 25 Nov 96 - Page 48


     
     1        distribution within the jurisdiction and, therefore, it
     2        would not be an act of distribution relevant to -----
     3
     4   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You mean an act of publication?
     5
     6   MR. MORRIS:  Sorry, I mean an act of publication, and, as far as
     7        I know, obviously in terms of mail-outs -- and I am going
     8        to check the transcript tonight -- there was no effective
     9        evidence showing that I had put a copy of the fact sheet.
    10        Of course, the evidence was generally to the contrary that
    11        the fact sheets were not put in in replies to letters,
    12        unless it was specifically a specialist one, which would
    13        have gone to Mr. Gravett or Ms. Laporte.  But, in any case,
    14        it is up to the Plaintiffs to show the destination of those
    15        letters in any event.
    16
    17        Another point I would like to make is that -- this is a
    18        legal point; I am trying to clear up as much as I can -- it
    19        is up to the Plaintiffs to demonstrate, because it is their
    20        burden of proof, that the public were present at a
    21        meeting.  Obviously, we will not dispute that the public
    22        were present at the fayre, but in terms of any particular
    23        meeting, whether or not it was held at Caledonian Road or
    24        at Endsleigh Street, it is up to them to demonstrate that
    25        there were demonstrably members of the public present if
    26        they are saying that a distribution took place, a
    27        publication took place at such an event.  They have to
    28        demonstrate, through evidence, that there were people that
    29        were clearly third parties, if you like, and members of the
    30        public present separate from people that in theory they
    31        have claimed we are acting in agency with, because you
    32        cannot act in agency with people by publishing to those
    33        people.
    34
    35        Another point is that McDonald's agents are not members of
    36        the public and they were there for the purpose of getting
    37        material for McDonald's.  We submit that them receiving a
    38        copy of the fact sheet, even though we are challenging of
    39        course that and they have failed to bring the documents to
    40        court, but even if they have received a copy of the
    41        fact sheet, or did, that would not be publication, we
    42        submit, as they are agents of the Plaintiffs.
    43
    44        I made one point about the -- this is illustrative about
    45        what I said earlier on, that it was not just lack of
    46        hierarchy, it was a positive rejection of such, if you
    47        recall, about the phone call which allegedly came from me
    48        and I was meant to be trying to influence a meeting by
    49        making a phone call.  The response in the notes at the
    50        relevant time, if you remember, was that people felt it was 
    51        none of my business unless I was prepared to attend the 
    52        meeting.  So, this was a positive approach to people taking 
    53        responsibility for themselves and that if some people are
    54        going to organise something they were going to organise it
    55        because they had met together.  So that is that.
    56
    57        There was also the point about Mr. Gravett which we have
    58        not dealt with, I do not think, about him speaking at a
    59        public meeting, a public event, about the anti-McDonald's
    60        campaign.  If you remember, people rejected the idea that

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