Day 159 - 20 Jul 95 - Page 04
1 MR. MORRIS: That would be the Brazilian stores would be using
2 Brazilian beef, but the exports of beef from Brazil would
3 be on top of local consumption. That is where the UK
4 imports come in. This was one of the reasons for it being
5 suggested that we had to plead the situation, because if we
6 are going to argue that there had been other imports of
7 Brazilian beef elsewhere into the McDonald's system, then
8 it should be pleaded. Then, obviously, the decision is
9 yours as to what that means. I do not think a pleading
10 should be rejected because it might lead to a lot of
11 discovery.
12
13 Obviously, the judge has discretion on how much discovery
14 he orders, but the pleading is a sacrosanct right to plead
15 as long as it is based upon reasonable belief. So all I am
16 saying is -----
17
18 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am not going to not give you leave to plead
19 because I think it would lead to onerous discovery. The
20 answer would be to give you leave to plead it and then
21 decide what, if any, discovery was necessary for the fair
22 disposal of the action if there were any relevant
23 documents, or might be. I think it is, nevertheless,
24 helpful for me to see just what you envisage might be the
25 extent of the discovery if you were successful on No. 1.
26
27 MR. MORRIS: Right.
28
29 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you have any particular kinds of
30 documentation which you would expect there would be?
31
32 MR. MORRIS: If it was -- that is just something, one particular
33 thing, because I wanted to come back on what Mr. Rampton
34 said, but if the amendment is accepted, then if we could
35 maybe over lunch, or something, if you decide before lunch,
36 maybe over lunch we could -----
37
38 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No. I will not decide this before lunch, if
39 only because I think I will have to do a bit of rereading
40 of various things. I have not had time overnight
41 unfortunately to reconsider the effect, if any, of the
42 ruling I made back in November. Do you remember the matter
43 I raised with Mr. Rampton yesterday during his argument,
44 and I wanted to have time to do that?
45
46 MR. MORRIS: Yes, maybe if over lunch we have a chance to give
47 an indication of the kind of documentation we would be
48 seeking.
49
50 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It would be helpful just to get the feel of
51 the whole thing if you did that. I am not inviting you to
52 go into it in great length, but just give me literally a
53 thumbnail sketch of what you think the compass of it would
54 be.
55
56 MR. MORRIS: So we have finished with that file now. Of course,
57 if you were so minded, then that particular provision in
58 that document we have just shown could equally be applied
59 to Costa Rica and Guatemala.
60
