Day 285 - 23 Oct 96 - Page 39
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2 MR JUSTICE BELL: I do not think it is right for me to say more
3 than that.
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5 MR. MORRIS: I think we appreciate that you know, that if you
6 had the transcript then we ought to have a copy too, but
7 the plaintiffs are not prepared to do that. But it costs
8 us œ425 a day to buy them. We just cannot do that each
9 day.
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11 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Is it your proposal at the moment to buy
12 transcripts at the press rate in due course of your
13 submissions.
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15 MR. MORRIS: We will do them in due course, yes, definitely,
16 yes.
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18 MR JUSTICE BELL: So I will get them then, will I, at some
19 stage in the future?
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21 MR. MORRIS: Yes, three weeks.
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23 MR JUSTICE BELL: I think in that case the best thing is just
24 let me carry on with my note without daily transcripts.
25 If I am going to get them in due course, I have certainly
26 got a good enough note for current purposes. I think
27 I have probably got a good enough note for all purposes,
28 but what it will mean is at some stage in the future when
29 I have all the transcripts anyway, if I do have any query
30 in my mind as to just what you said or Miss Steel said
31 I can refer to it. I actually do not think it will really
32 arise.
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34 MS. STEEL: Can I just say that actually the reason why we
35 bought the transcripts of yesterday and the day before?
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37 MR JUSTICE BELL: It was to do with what I said and what
38 Mr. Rampton said.
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40 MS. STEEL: It was because we feel you know a lot has been
41 said about meaning and comment and so on, we really need
42 to be able to get legal advice on it. We did write to the
43 plaintiffs to ask them if we could buy the transcripts, if
44 they would waive their legal advantage and we could buy
45 them. All they have to say is, yes, to Barnett Lenton,
46 that is the end of it; they refused to do that. But we
47 just felt it was important for the last two days that we
48 are able to get legal advice so that we are not even more
49 disadvantaged than the situation we are already in.
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51 MR. RAMPTON: I am sorry, I cannot have that. I hoped that
52 this wretched business was not going to rear its ugly head
53 again. I don't know if your Lordship got a copy of the
54 letter we sent to the defendants yesterday or not. What
55 Miss Steel has done is to actually mislead your Lordship.
56 We have said, yes, you can have every day's transcript at
57 the discounted rate overnight provided you give the
58 undertaking for which we asked last time, which is, the
59 undertaking was not to misuse the transcripts or not to
60 use them for anything but the conduct of the case.
