Day 263 - 14 Jun 96 - Page 36
1 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, can I tell your Lordship -- I believe
2 this is something your Lordship ought to know. Perhaps
3 I had better put it like this: it would be my intention to
4 tell your Lordship how many meetings there were for which
5 I have proffered evidence at which another inquiry agent
6 was present whom I do not offer as a witness but -----
7
8 MR. JUSTICE BELL: How does that come in?
9
10 MR. RAMPTON: If it was a ton of material, it does not really
11 come in. I do not know, it might affect your Lordship's
12 thinking. I do not particularly want to do it. I would
13 not want to do it ------
14
15 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I see, yes. I might as well know that, on
16 the basis that were I to say that privilege had been waived
17 in respect of any notes or reports in respect of meetings
18 in relation to which you have or do propose to adduce
19 evidence -- that is what you propose to tell me?
20
21 MR. RAMPTON: Yes. But I would like, if I am going to do that,
22 to do it at the resumption, because it has just occurred to
23 me that your Lordship might find it helpful, but I do not
24 want to do it without taking instructions.
25
26 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I do not need to know. All I need to know is
27 that it would not be an academic exercise, because one then
28 promptly says, "Oh, well, there are not any other notes
29 anyway."
30
31 MR. RAMPTON: Maybe I can just put it like this: it is not an
32 academic exercise, but the number of occasions involved is
33 not very much.
34
35 MR. JUSTICE BELL: There we are.
36
37 MR. MORRIS: It might be useful also to know how many meetings
38 in total of all the agents the Plaintiffs -----
39
40 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No. It is not relevant to the ruling I make
41 now. I have to make the ruling. The only point is this:
42 there would be no point in me saying, well, there was
43 privilege in relation to what the inquiry agents observed
44 at meeting X, but since they are calling a witness in
45 relation to that and he has produced his notes, that has
46 waived privilege in respect of any other inquiry agent's
47 notes in relation to meeting X. This would all be very
48 interesting, but completely pointless if there was no other
49 inquiry agent there who had not made any other notes. All
50 that Mr. Rampton is saying is that if that were the
51 conclusion I reached, then there would be some further
52 discovery forthcoming, in effect. I do not need to know
53 the extent of it. That is not what I am asking.
54
55 MR. MORRIS: I think Mr. Rampton is trying to set the terms of
56 where your judgment should go.
57
58 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, he is not.
59
60 MR. RAMPTON: No, not at all.
