Day 263 - 14 Jun 96 - Page 28
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2 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, if I rule that they, too, were to be
3 discovered.
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5 MR. RAMPTON: I can, I hope, deal quite shortly with
6 Mr. Morris's and Ms. Steel's broad submission that waiver
7 of privilege in relation to one witness to one occasion or
8 two witnesses to two occasions, or whatever, involved some
9 general waiver of all like communications or observations
10 throughout the whole history of the period.
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12 My Lord, that was dealt with quite sharply, if I may say
13 so, both by Hobhouse J. as being absurd, and also by
14 Mustill J. (as he then was), in the Nea Karteria case. The
15 interpretation of "transaction" (if transaction be the
16 right word) is quite plainly a narrow one. One only has to
17 remember the headnote of the General Accident case. The
18 waiver extends to the terms of the conversation. It does
19 not extend to the subject matter of the conversation. That
20 is really the neatest way of putting it.
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22 I will show your Lordship -- I did not have time yesterday,
23 because your Lordship quite rightly sat me down so that
24 Mr. Hall could get up -- I will draw your Lordship's
25 attention to Nea Karteria.
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27 MR. JUSTICE BELL: The equivalent of that would be what is said
28 and done at the meeting or what is said and done at an
29 event here.
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31 MR. RAMPTON: Exactly.
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33 MR. JUSTICE BELL: So any records of that, one could say, would
34 be waived.
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36 MR. RAMPTON: If one applies the principle of fairness, which
37 I have suggested is one side of this really quite difficult
38 problem; but it extends no further than that. That is
39 quite clear on the authorities. There really is not any
40 room for argument at all about that; and that is all
41 I desire to say about that.
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43 But in aid of that, but also because it may help
44 your Lordship make a decision about whether on one occasion
45 privilege has been waived for all material relating to that
46 occasion, I would ask your Lordship to look at the
47 Nea Karteria case, which I did not have time to do
48 yesterday. Does your Lordship have that? I have a spare
49 copy here, if not.
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51 MR. MORRIS: Is it proper to bring a new case in?
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53 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. If it is helpful, I would like to see
54 it.
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56 MR. MORRIS: Shall we -----
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58 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Let us see where we get to.
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60 MR. RAMPTON: I do not really bring it in by way of reply for
