Day 280 - 17 Jul 96 - Page 15


     
     1
     2   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  When I have decided and given my judgment,
     3        then everybody who is contemplating, anyone who is
     4        contemplating a contribution proceedings or, if they are
     5        taken, contemplating what action to take in response to
     6        them, has the benefit of what I have decided and the
     7        reasons I have given you for it, and one has to put that on
     8        the other side of the balance of the argument you are
     9        putting forward, has one not?
    10
    11   MR. STARMER:   That is right.  If the Plaintiffs fail entirely
    12        then obviously third party proceedings could not be an
    13        issue.
    14
    15   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  There are advantages in bringing separate
    16        contribution proceedings when you know what the Court has
    17        decided in the main action, just as there are advantages in
    18        coming into the main action.
    19
    20   MR. STARMER:   My Lord, that is right.  The alternative scenario
    21        is that the Plaintiffs win, and win significantly,
    22        substantial damages that the Defendants would want a
    23        contribution, and that then fresh proceedings would have to
    24        be launched and then you will not have to go back into how
    25        many of the issues were then going to have to be
    26        relitigated, including, presumably, calling all the
    27        publication witnesses again within the new proceedings to
    28        repeat much of the same evidence as they have already given
    29        to this Court over however long a period they did so, and
    30        the advantage of joining at this stage is that most of the
    31        water is already under the bridge and this Court is
    32        appraised of all the facts.  There is also another
    33        advantage, that one does not know who any subsequent trial
    34        would be in front of.
    35
    36   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Well, I have to say, I will not refer to
    37        whose law it is, but it would almost certainly turn out to
    38        be me.
    39
    40   MR. STARMER:   But it usually would, with proceedings such as
    41        those, in any ordinary case, but it may not be for one
    42        reason or another.  It really may not be, and then one gets
    43        the prospect of different evidence and different tribunals
    44        potentially coming to a different, or slightly different,
    45        result which is not just as between the parties.  And so,
    46        in short form, my submission is that with this Court
    47        appraised of so much of the evidence on top of so many of
    48        the issues, and having heard most of the witnesses that
    49        would be relevant to this issue, the third party issue, it
    50        really would be quicker and more efficient to join them at
    51        this stage, allow them to make their submissions to you in
    52        the Autumn along with everybody else, and have the whole
    53        issue decided as between the parties without requiring
    54        either Court time or the Defendants to pursue separate
    55        proceedings and repeating a lot of what has already gone
    56        on.
    57
    58   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  To what extent am I to take any account of
    59        the fact that on a number of occasions Ms. Steel and Mr.
    60        Morris stress their own lack of funds?  To what extent am I

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