Day 244 - 03 May 96 - Page 03

     
     1        that Mr. North, through no fault of his own, has formed an
     2        opinion, which he is quite at liberty to express outside
     3        this court but which, from the witness box, is something
     4        which is a matter for your Lordship and not for him.
     5
     6   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Which parts are they?
     7
     8   MR. RAMPTON:  In the first paragraph of the first supplementary
     9        statement, the words from "represent" to "tool and".
    10
    11   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Is that the one of 14th December 1995?
    12
    13   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, yes.
    14
    15   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  The first paragraph?
    16
    17   MR. RAMPTON:  The first paragraph which starts "In my view".
    18
    19   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.
    20
    MR. RAMPTON:  The words which I submit are objectionable, for
    22        the reason I have given, are "represent" as far as "tool
    23        and".
    24
    25   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I am sorry, I was looking at the wrong
    26        "represent".
    27
    28   MR. RAMPTON:  I am sorry.  I say that because, although it may
    29        be so, it is not something that Mr. North can give evidence
    30        about it; it is a matter for your Lordship on the other
    31        evidence given in the course of the case.  He can certainly
    32        say the rest of that sentence.  That is a matter for his
    33        own expertise.
    34
    35        Then, my Lord, for exactly identical reasons, on the next
    36        page, the last sentence of the penultimate paragraph of the
    37        text beginning, "the exercise was" and ending "the real
    38        thing" and, for exactly the same reason, the whole of the
    39        last paragraph, although, plainly, the comment in the last
    40        phrase, "without the substantive controls necessary to
         ensure that state", again he can certainly say that that is
    42        his opinion, if wishes to do so.
    43
    44        In other words, he can speak of what he observes to be the
    45        deficiencies in the system.  What he cannot comment on as
    46        an expert witness in science is what he perceives to be the
    47        motive for using those systems.
    48
    49   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.  What do you want to say about that?
    50 
    51   MR. MORRIS:  I think that someone who is an expert in a field, 
    52        which is very public field, public health, is entitled to 
    53        draw conclusions from their experience about the way
    54        companies that are monitored are using their procedures.
    55
    56        Obviously he has commented overall on what the effect of
    57        their procedures are and he is drawing conclusions about
    58        how they portray themselves, no doubt to him when he makes
    59        visits or publicly, and I think that public health
    60        officials are entitled to draw those conclusions.  If they