Day 205 - 17 Jan 96 - Page 37


     
     1
     2   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Let us come back to that on Monday morning,
     3        because I would like to decide then -- and it is not going
     4        to take very long-- whether I am allowed to have that
     5        statement read as part of the evidence and, if not, whether
     6        I am going to grant leave for the recall of Mr. Alimi or
     7        not.
     8
     9   MR. MORRIS:  I did not realise that Mr. Rampton's position was
    10        that the best practice was that we should ask permission
    11        for a Civil Evidence Act notice to be agreed, because of
    12        course they have also served a number of Civil Evidence Act
    13        notices in the last month and no leave has been asked for
    14        those.  So I just assumed that we had the right to put the
    15        Civil Evidence Act notices.
    16
    17   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  At a stage just before Christmas, I said that
    18        from now on I want any party to ask leave to adduce the
    19        evidence of further witnesses, which would include new
    20        evidence from witnesses who have already been called.
    21        I have been given a lot of statements since then, which
    22        I have put in the bundles where I have asked it to be put.
    23        But any party who wants to rely on any of those statements
    24        must raise the matter with me, so that I can deal with the
    25        question of whether they should become part of the evidence
    26        of the case or not.
    27
    28        The purpose in saying what I did say before Christmas was
    29        that I did not want any party to accept any longer that
    30        they can just extend the length of the case by bringing in
    31        new evidence.  There may be no problem about witnesses, but
    32        we have to deal with the question.
    33
    34   MR. MORRIS:  Right.
    35
    36   MS. STEEL:  I do not know whether the Plaintiffs could give some
    37        indication of when they are intending to bring this up;
    38        otherwise we do not know which ones they are going to apply
    39        for; and, also, it is just likely to get forgotten. They
    40        have served a vast number of statements over the past few
    41        weeks.
    42
    43   MR. RAMPTON:  I am not sure I understand that.  I have served
    44        some Civil Evidence Act notice statements.  I think
    45        I expressed myself, my Lord, badly when I first intervened
    46        on this question.  Nothing on Earth can prevent people from
    47        serving statements with a Civil Evidence Act notice
    48        attached to them.  What prevents the evidence being called
    49        -- as I think I did say -- was if the judge should take
    50        the view that the notice being out of time (as all these 
    51        are) that in all the circumstances it would not be right to 
    52        adduce the evidence, which is the way your Lordship put it 
    53        -- which is, with respect, the correct way of putting it.
    54        If and in so far as any of what Ms. Steel erroneously calls
    55        the vast number of statements we have served recently are
    56        objected to as evidence, why then, the Defendants should
    57        say so.  I propose to do the same with the bundle that
    58        I have been handed this morning.  If and in so far I object
    59        to them, I shall say so.  I am not in the least willing to
    60        give Ms. Steel any indication at the moment of when I shall

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