Day 208 - 24 Jan 96 - Page 04

     
     1   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What you should not do is assume that because
     2        someone has written (whether it is someone in McDonald's or
     3        anywhere else) that the law is X, that I am going to accept
     4        that it is X.
     5
     6   MR. MORRIS:  All I am saying is that ---
     7
     8   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  People get things wrong.
     9
    10   MR. MORRIS:  -- if we do not find out any statute on the
    11        subject, we are going to assume that the law is as
    12        McDonald's were advising their Supervisors.
    13
    14   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You can assume what you like.
    15
    16   MR. MORRIS:  If Mr. Rampton wants to challenge that at the end
    17        of the case, then that is up to him.
    18
    19   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You assume what you like.  If the assumption
    20        turns out to be false, there we are.
    21
    22   MR. MORRIS:  Right.
    23
    24   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  The one thing about statutory law is that
    25        difficulties of interpretation arise from time to time, but
    26        with regard to things like hours and breaks and so on,
    27        I would expect it all to be clearly laid out probably in
    28        regulations under some statutory provision.  It is not like
    29        quoting case authority with arguments one way or the other.
    30
    31   MS. STEEL:  If the Plaintiffs have got the law, then it would be
    32        helpful if they say what it is.  If they want to say they
    33        have not got it, then let them say that.  If they have got
    34        it and they do not want to show it to us, then, yes, we
    35        only assume that it is because it is in our favour.
    36        I think that, seeing as we have to be in court every day
    37        and we do not have the opportunity to look this up, and it
    38        is relevant to put it to the current witnesses in the
    39        witness box, that there should be an adjournment so that we
    40        have got the time to go and look up the law, because the
         Plaintiffs have got other people at their disposal to ask
    42        to do this work for them, whereas we have not.
    43
    44   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I am afraid I do not accept that.  Mr. Morris
    45        from time to time has stated to the witness that the law is
    46        this or the law is that, and I have assumed he has known
    47        what it is.
    48
    49   MS. STEEL:   It is because of the document, McDonald's own
    50        document, yesterday. 
    51 
    52   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I do not know that.  From time to time 
    53        Mr. Morris has declared that he has had an interest in
    54        union matters and so on; and, for all I know, he knows all
    55        these regulations and recites them to himself before he
    56        goes to bed every night.  I just do not know.
    57
    58   MS. STEEL:   Certainly, yesterday we were referring to
    59        McDonald's own document.  We do not know what the law is in
    60        this area, other than what it says in this McDonald's