Day 146 - 03 Jul 95 - Page 39
1 September. The point being there is absolutely no point in
2 giving a date which would be convenient in the general
3 panorama of what one is expecting to be doing in the
4 future, but which is unrealistic so far as the Defendants
5 putting pen to paper is concerned.
6
7 MR. ATKINSON: I think there is a lot to be said for that.
8
9 MR. RAMPTON: Yes.
10
11 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, thank you, Mr. Atkinson.
12
13 MR. RAMPTON: I am not in any sense encroaching on his
14 submission, it is only that it really depends on when one
15 is going to get to the issues of publication and malice.
16 Assuming that that is not going to be until November, the
17 middle of November, at the earliest (which is one is bound
18 to assume because there is the Defendants' employment
19 witnesses, there is then rainforests, I would have thought
20 the middle of November), what one needs is time to clear up
21 any outstanding points on discovery and, if we should need
22 it, to find evidence to meet the particulars of malice that
23 Mr. Atkinson has asked for.
24
25 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I have not heard Ms. Steel and Mr. Morris.
26 If I were minded to make the order, I have in mind a date
27 about the middle of September.
28
29 MR. RAMPTON: The middle of September, yes. At least we will
30 know where we are by the time we reconvene. My Lord, I am
31 sure that we would not disagree with that. It will give us
32 plenty of time to find whatever is needed.
33
34 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Thank you both. Do you want to start this
35 evening or in the morning? It is entirely up to you.
36
37 MS. STEEL: I think probably on most things it would be better
38 if we left it until the morning, but we wanted to say
39 something about the transcripts this evening.
40
41 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I will tell you the way I am thinking. I am
42 entirely disinclined to give any indication of what a party
43 in this action should or should not do. I do not think
44 I have any power to order a party who has decided to pay
45 for transcripts or some mechanical aid to give the benefit
46 of it to another party. I am saying this partly so you can
47 think about it overnight and ask anyone else if you want
48 to. So, I would like to hear you on that aspect.
49
50 The second aspect is, if that remained my attitude, that it
51 was entirely a matter for the First and Second Plaintiffs
52 what they did with any CaseView they had or any transcripts
53 they were obtaining, what, if any, attitude I should adopt
54 as to whether I actually accepted them myself.
55
56 Just a few ramifications you might think about: First of
57 all, and I think you ought to think of CaseView and
58 transcripts separately -- they may go hand-in-hand, they
59 may not -- whether, for instance, I should continue to have
60 the benefit of CaseView in the court if you do not;
