Day 008 - 07 Jul 94 - Page 70


     
     1        Nutrition has been the second topic for a very long time.
 
     2   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It has indeed, but I am conscious of what
              I said to the defendants some time ago in Chambers, but
     3        there is no harm in repeating it here.  This case could be
              divided into blocks, and I would give them time insofar as
     4        I thought it was necessary to prepare for the next block
              after we did one.
     5
         MR. RAMPTON:  I do not want to ask your Lordship -- when
     6        Mr. Oakley must come back he must come back; he is a
              McDonald's person.  I have no doubt he will.  I foresee
     7        difficulties when we get to weeks seven and eight.
 
     8   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I am less concerned about that because there
              is a six week gap from the end of July to September.  What
     9        I am saying about gaps between the topics may not prevail
              in the autumn at least to the same extent, because you
    10        will have had a six week period -- I am not suggesting you
              have to work 24 hours a day on this case for that six week
    11        period -- but you will have that period to do preparation
              beyond just the next topic which is going to come up when
    12        we come back in September.  I am not saying I am not going
              to give you any time at all between the blocks; I will
    13        give you some time.
 
    14   MR. MORRIS:  If I may say something and I do not say this
              lightly.  I am absolutely fed up with being criticised by
    15        Mr. Rampton and all the problems he has to put up with to
              have McDonald's people coming here as witnesses.  It seems
    16        to me that so far all the burden has been put on us in
              terms of shifting people around, but I do not want -- I do
    17        want to say something very important.  We have not----
 
    18   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Let me speak first.  What I propose to do is
              to ask Mr. Rampton to lead Mr. Oakley in chief as to
    19        recycling and waste.  I want to say now so that you know
              that I think you should have a period -- we will talk
    20        about how long it should be -- before you are expected to
              cross-examine Mr. Oakley on nutrition as opposed to
    21        recycling and waste, and having formed that view it seems
              to me better, though it is a matter for Mr. Rampton, that
    22        Mr. Oakley be taken in chief on recycling and waste,
              cross-examined on that, then recalled as part of the
    23        nutrition case and taken in chief on nutrition.
 
    24   MR. MORRIS:  That is very reasonable.  The problem at the
              moment is that -- this is a fact; whether people are
    25        interested or not -- I virtually had no time last night or
              the night before to prepare for either of these 
    26        witnesses.  As it happened we did not cross-examine Mr. 
              Langert today.  I am not really getting until 9 o'clock at 
    27        night before I can even start the preparations, and I am
              exhausted.  We definitely need time between issues, which
    28        was suggested and agreed to, on this back to back system.
              We have not had any time up to now.  I know we have only
    29        started on the nitty-gritty since we started packaging,
              but I can see things, because of the way they are
    30        developing, slipping all the time through no fault of
              either party because our examination of Paul Preston took

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