Day 146 - 03 Jul 95 - Page 35
1 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If I feel I need to look at it I will.
2
3 MR. ATKINSON: The other reference is to the supplementary
4 statement of Mr. Bishop. It is paragraph 2 of that
5 statement and also to a second supplementary statement of
6 20th May 1995 which deals specifically with the question of
7 whether Ms. Steel and Mr. Morris were signatories to the
8 London Greenpeace bank account.
9
10 That is the basis for including those extra things in that
11 list. The question of what evidence there is to support
12 that, of course, is not a matter at this stage to be
13 determined. The question is we do have a basis for making
14 this application for discovery.
15
16 As far as all the other documents are concerned, the reason
17 that we ask for things like agendas, minutes, notes, is
18 based partly on photographs and videos that we say show the
19 Defendants are involved in demonstrations and other
20 activities, also their cross-examination of, for example,
21 Mr. Stein where they went on and on about the question of
22 were there any minutes, were there not agendas being drawn
23 up, or whatever.
24
25 That is not a silly little point of, "Well, because they
26 asked for it we ask for it too"; but the reason we do ask
27 for it is partly that there is reference in the statements
28 of our private investigators to there being an agenda and
29 to Ms. Steel taking minutes, but also it shows the sort of
30 thing that the Defendants think is likely to be thrown up
31 by meetings and it shows, therefore, some indication of
32 what they might do themselves if they were having a
33 meeting. Then we also have seen from newspaper articles
34 the sort of demonstrations that go on, also from one's own
35 eyes outside court.
36
37 So all these things that are being asked for are asked for
38 for two reasons, one, because they may well contain
39 relevant information in themselves, but also because the
40 very fact of the Defendants having them in their
41 possession, custody or control may give rise per se to an
42 inference that they are involved in some sort of campaign,
43 unless some sort of explanation can be given as to why they
44 have all this material within their possession, custody and
45 control relating to McDonald's.
46
47 It may be, my Lord, that this is all rather academic in the
48 sense it may be that the Defendants are quite happy to say
49 that they are involved, actively involved, in a campaign
50 against McDonald's. They may not wish to deny it. They
51 may be very proud of it. It may not come to a great
52 debate. What one would say, though, and this is an
53 important point, is that when we are thinking of
54 possession, custody or control by the Defendants'
55 documents, we certainly have in mind documents that may be
56 at the offices of London Greenpeace or the McLibel support
57 campaign and other materials that are in the possession of
58 other members of those groups. That is not a point for
59 today, my Lord, because it may well be that there will be
60 some argument on that. It is for the Defendants at this
