Day 182 - 02 Nov 95 - Page 41
1 no real notice of, none of the detail; and it does really
2 drive a coach and horses not only through your Lordship's
3 recent ruling, but through the whole spirit of the rule
4 that one must serve proper statements in advance of the
5 witness's attendance at court. The whole point is to give
6 the other side a chance to prepare not just their own
7 evidence, but for cross-examination.
8
9 That is really my complaint. I can and will, if
10 your Lordship would like me to, put some general
11 propositions to the witness about the various matters he
12 has raised without (so far as I am concerned) any notice,
13 such as safety committees, rates of pay, overtime,
14 ventilation systems, scheduling, rap sessions, and so on
15 and so forth. But your Lordship will understand, I hope,
16 first, that I cannot put any detail, because there has not
17 been time to get it -- and, anyway, the Norwegians did not
18 have it to hand, naturally enough -- and, secondly, with
19 this caveat, that some of what I have put may not be
20 right.
21
22 MR. JUSTICE BELL: (To the witness): You were expecting to be in
23 England tomorrow, as well as today, were you?
24
25 THE WITNESS: Yes.
26
27 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What I would invite you to do is go as far as
28 you think you can this afternoon, and then make a decision
29 as to whether you want Mr. Jenssen -- supposing we are not
30 continuing until normal close of play -- whether you want
31 Mr. Jenssen to return in the morning, which may give you
32 some further opportunity to take instructions.
33
34 MR. RAMPTON: Yes. I doubt whether, on taking instructions on
35 the telephone, I can get the sort of detail, really, that
36 I would need.
37
38 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Well, I do not know the way things operate.
39 I would have thought if you and those you require to assist
40 you sat round a conference table in this country and
41 Mr. Holm sat round one in Oslo, one could have taken
42 instructions perfectly well. You would not be able to be
43 reading the same documents, if they are relevant, in
44 English, but -----
45
46 MR. RAMPTON: That is another problem of course, that I do not
47 yet know -----
48
49 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Conference phones can be perfectly
50 satisfactory; you can have a room full of -- I mean, they
51 are ordinary phones with just a button you press.
52
53 MR. RAMPTON: I know that, but that is another problem. I do
54 not have -- and I do not think I can get them in the time
55 available before tomorrow morning -- a translation of all
56 these Norwegian documents.
57
58 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I would invite you to take that course; and
59 everyone make a mental note that at some stage very soon
60 I want to discuss the French witnesses, because at the
