Day 070 - 20 Dec 94 - Page 48
1 Ms. Steel and Mr. Morris can sit down and do it themselves.
2
3 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am not expecting anyone in this case to
4 trawl the transcripts to identify where the documents are.
5 If they find the time to do that, and choose to do that,
6 there we are. What I suggest as the first step, as I have
7 said, it would be helpful if the first step were if those
8 who instruct you do their best on the information they have
9 got, short of trawling through the transcript, to bring the
10 indices up to date -- as, in fact, happened over the long
11 vacation in one or two instances -- and then if Ms. Steel
12 or Mr. Morris feel that something is omitted, to notify
13 your instructing solicitors: "We think this is missed off
14 and we think that is in the bundle" -- whatever.
15
16 I hardly need say that judges do not normally participate
17 in this exercise. It is because Ms. Steel and Mr. Morris
18 are not represented that I am saying as much as I am.
19
20 MR. RAMPTON: I would not, either.
21
22 MR. MORRIS: We have to have some cooperation here. This
23 morning, a number of documents were served by the
24 Plaintiffs -----
25
26 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Please stop there, because I have made my
27 suggestion as to how the cooperation might come about. I
28 do not think McDonald's solicitors are under an obligation
29 to get your documents in order, in so far as they are not
30 in order. I am sure they will do their best, by the way,
31 to do that, along with their own, but if and when you get
32 anything from Mrs. Brinley-Codd suggesting that "this is
33 now an index as we see it to this bundle and that bundle",
34 it is for you to check and make sure that things which
35 should be in there are in there.
36
37 MR. MORRIS: It would be of help to yourself as well ---
38
39 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, it would.
40
41 MR. MORRIS: -- if you had an accurate index.
42
43 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. Every so often, I have to look in my
44 own note to try to find where something is.
45
46 What about witnesses' evidence then?
47
48 MS. STEEL: The hypothetical questions, I do not know whether
49 you remember, but this was brought up when we were
50 questioning Mr. Oakley about the matters in the statement
51 about Jarretts. Mr. Rampton made the objection that it was
52 all too hypothetical, or something like that. I think you
53 indicated that you did not want to talk about it at that
54 stage because it was wasting the time that the witness was
55 in the witness box.
56
57 I cannot remember exactly, but I think I indicated that as
58 all our witnesses come after the Plaintiffs' witnesses, if
59 Mr. Rampton's line of arguing was taken to its conclusion,
60 it would mean that everything that we questioned the
