Day 092 - 27 Feb 95 - Page 39
1 appears to be relying on.
2
3 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I do not, if I may say so, think that
4 follows. An expert is bound if you ask him why he says
5 that if the answer is: "Because I have read papers in
6 relation to it". It does not mean to say because you put
7 something to him in cross-examination and he has responded
8 by saying, in effect: "Well, I have read about it here and
9 there" that he has to produce everything.
10
11 The point is this, that if you are going to rely on the
12 paper, for instance, if a witness of yours is going to
13 refer to it, it is as well to start making sure now that
14 you have sufficient copies for everyone and they are seen
15 well in advance of the witness being called. Just a
16 cautionary mention.
17
18 MS. STEEL: I will do that but this was actually something that
19 Dr. Gomez Gonzalez said in-chief. He said that there was
20 not any pain. The Plaintiffs have not provided any studies
21 to back that up.
22
23 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, there may not be. I maybe taking too
24 simple an approach but I would have thought that quite a
25 lot is known about the anatomy of chickens, may be not so
26 much as about human physiology, but quite a lot is known.
27 Someone who has been through the educational mill that Dr.
28 Gomez Gonzalez has probably knows something about it. So,
29 that extent he is able to give a general answer. One has
30 to see what weight one attaches to it in the light of any
31 contrary evidence from any other witness and any particular
32 paper which is referred to.
33
34 The point being made at this stage is that if we are going
35 to see the Edinburgh research, if it is specifically going
36 to be replied upon, just make sure that you have plenty of
37 copies and serve them on the other side in advance. That
38 is all.
39
40 MS. STEEL: I mean, we will do that but it does concern me that
41 it seems that the Plaintiffs experts can make all kinds of
42 statements without providing scientific papers to back up
43 what they are saying. But, for reason, our experts are
44 expected to provide every little paper that they might have
45 read.
46
47 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is not so. Your experts can rely upon
48 their general education and scientific knowledge. One has
49 to look in relation to each expert to see what the extent
50 of it might be. But all this arose purely and simply
51 because Mr. Rampton mentioned, in effect, that if there is
52 a particular paper which is going to be relied upon, let us
53 have copies well in advance. There is nothing sinister
54 about that.
55
56 We had it with the doctors. We could not have Professor
57 Crawford, Dr. Arnott and Professor Keen providing papers to
58 support every matter of medical knowledge which they put
59 forward from their own, no doubt, extensive memory banks,
60 otherwise we every time someone made mention of circulation
