Day 305 - 25 Nov 96 - Page 40
1 action. I know there is nothing to show assent in general
2 of general anti-McDonald's activities or distribution of
3 the fact sheet, but that would not be enough. Even if they
4 could show that, they would have to show assent to a
5 specific course of action in such a way as to influence the
6 course of action that was taken as a result, which would
7 lead to the distribution of the London Greenpeace
8 fact sheet. So there has to be that kind of causal link.
9
10 MS. STEEL: I do not know whether what I said about the balance
11 of probabilities -- I do not know whether I said it quite
12 coherently enough. I am trying to make the point that when
13 you are looking about the balance of probabilities, it is
14 not about whether you can suppose that we said something at
15 a meeting, but about whether there is concrete evidence
16 that we said something at a meeting and, therefore,
17 whether, in the balance of probabilities, you can use that
18 to say that the balance of probabilities was that we were
19 encouraging dissemination of the fact sheet or that we said
20 that we had distributed it ourselves. We would say that
21 there is absolutely no evidence from any of the spies that
22 we were encouraging distribution of the fact sheet or that
23 we said that we were distributing it ourselves. If there
24 is no evidence at all, then there is no balance of
25 probabilities to weigh up; there is just no evidence.
26
27 MR. MORRIS: I am just trying to work out what do next.
28
29 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. What are you hoping to cover in the
30 remainder of your oral submissions? Ms. Steel at some
31 stage is going to say what she wishes about the evidence
32 relating to 16th October 1989.
33
34 MR. MORRIS: Well, yes. I am going to deal with the
35 Jack Russell meeting. I was just reading it through now
36 while Ms. Steel was speaking. It is quite hard to
37 concentrate when someone is speaking about the same sort of
38 matters. But I have not quite finished going through it
39 yet. My recollection about it conforms with my reading of
40 the transcript again. I have got some general points to
41 make, some other general points to make. I wanted to go
42 through the specific meetings which I attended. But I have
43 to check that tonight. It may not take that long, because
44 I only attended, of course, a very few meetings. We have
45 some legal points to make.
46
47 MR. RAMPTON: Before any of that happens, can I say something?
48 I hope this is not out of order, but it may be convenient,
49 my Lord, if I say it now. Twice today it has appeared to
50 me that the Defendants are intending to use the opportunity
51 provided by the fact that my closing submissions will be in
52 writing to have, as it were, a second bite at the cherry.
53 When they see in particular what I say about publication,
54 Mr. Morris said this morning that when he has looked at
55 that he may want to put some more submissions in writing.
56 Ms. Steel said something to very similar effect just now.
57 Also, the other day, she asked your Lordship when the end
58 of term was, which, to my mind, foreshadowed some ghastly
59 prospect of an over-run which could only be provided by an
60 extensive reply to my submissions by the Defendants.
