Day 240 - 24 Apr 96 - Page 41


     
     1
     2   THE WITNESS:  Thank you.  (The witness withdrew)
     3
     4   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Just leave the witness box and either leave
     5        or sit down.  Someone else will tidy up for you.  Take your
     6        own papers with you of course.
     7
     8        Now, before we talk about anything else, I want to talk a
     9        little about scheduling and, in particular, the other
    10        litigation which you are involved in, Mr. Morris, because
    11        what has happened, so Mr. Glen has informed me, is that he
    12        spoke to your instructing solicitor, and he also spoke to
    13        the Listing Office at the Central London Trial Centre, and
    14        he made it clear that 2nd and 3rd May were not convenient
    15        to this court because we had two witnesses fixed in where
    16        obviously the 8th and 9th August would be convenient
    17        because this court will not be sitting.
    18
    19        The 8th and 9th August were convenient to your solicitor,
    20        though she had not been able to consult the London Borough
    21        of Haringey, and we had understood that the Listing Office
    22        pencilled in 8th and 9th August, so that seemed to me to be
    23        enough from our point of view, but this morning Mr. Glen
    24        has heard that the London Borough of Haringey had objected
    25        to a delay on 8th and 9th August and, therefore, the
    26        Central London Trial Centre have put your case in for 2nd
    27        and 3rd May.
    28
    29        In a moment, I am going to rise and see if Mr. Glen -- and
    30        I would like everyone to wait -- or I can actually speak to
    31        the Listing Office at the Central London Trial Centre
    32        because what we have not been given one way or another is
    33        an opportunity to put forward alternative dates in case
    34        they could be taken.
    35
    36        I have to say that I am faintly irritated at not being
    37        consulted by anyone at all, be it the solicitors on either
    38        side, and it may be unfair on the London Borough of
    39        Haringey if they did not know what the situation is as to
    40        whether your other case could not have been dealt with some
    41        time last Autumn or this Spring because, as I have said in
    42        another context, we have had many days when we have not
    43        been sitting on this trial and I would have thought days
    44        could have been put forward last Autumn or this Spring for
    45        the disposal of the other action.
    46
    47        What I want to be able to do is to give, because I think
    48        May may be full up at the Central London Trial Centre,
    49        dates in June which they may be able to take up because,
    50        speaking quite candidly, I can see that another party to 
    51        that action might not be happy with an adjournment to 
    52        August rather than May of that other matter.  I cannot 
    53        direct them when they will hear it.
    54
    55   MR. MORRIS:  I am frankly irritated about the whole situation
    56        because, and maybe it is none of this court's business to
    57        know the details of the other trial, but it was adjourned
    58        entirely 100 per cent because of the late service of
    59        documents and unilateral service of trial bundles with
    60        additional documents that had not been shown to our side,

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