Day 233 - 26 03 96 - Page 33

 
 

                                                                  DAY 233
 
 
 
 
 
     1   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  If we sat on Thursday and Friday, were it
     2        necessary, you would have had time to consider the amended
     3        defence, would you not?
     4
     5   MR. RAMPTON:  Yes.
     6
     7   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Unless it has something quite
     8        extraordinary -----
     9
    10   MR. RAMPTON:  I can certainly do it by tomorrow.  But I do,
    11        my Lord, have a resistance to not sitting when we can sit,
    12        because one never knows what may come up in the future,
    13        particularly if the real reason why the Defendants do not
    14        want to sit is that they are having a press conference with
    15        Mr. Lyman at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning.
    16
    17   MS. STEEL:  Actually, I have never said I am going to be there,
    18        and I am not bothered whether we sit tomorrow.  But there
    19        are quite a few things to go over, and there are a lot of
    20        areas where the two matters do overlap and it would be a
    21        good idea to hear them both at the same time.
    22
    23   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Do not worry about that too much for the
    24        moment.  What is the state of play?  I am going to adjourn
    25        in a moment, and, if you ask me to, I will adjourn until
    26        something like half past two, so that you can come back on
    27        the rest of discovery.  Would that help?
    28
    29   MR. MORRIS:   Yes, that would help.
    30
    31   MS. STEEL:   Yes.
    32
    33   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Then, suppose we deal with the argument on
    34        discovery, carrying on at half past two, that we come back
    35        to anything you want to say about your proposed amended
    36        defence and reamendment of the Statement of Claim on
    37        Thursday morning; then, save for me giving judgment on
    38        those matters and discovery at some stage before the end of
    39        term, that is it for this term.  You are fully engaged
    40        Tuesday of next week, anyway.
    41
    42        What I do want to discuss, either this afternoon, if there
    43        is time, or on Thursday and Friday in addition, is the
    44        remaining evidence.
    45
    46   MS. STEEL:  The schedule.
    47
    48   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes -- because we have got to get to grips
    49        with that.  So that everyone can bear it in mind, I want,
    50        apart from anything else, parties to turn their mind to how 
    51        we go about the remainder of the case, what the general 
    52        structure is; whether we try and follow the procedure which 
    53        we have tried to follow so far, and which was my idea
    54        originally, of dealing with topics; or whether now at this
    55        stage, with a fair number of witnesses to go but a limited
    56        number in the overall context of this case, it is easier
    57        for Mr. Rampton to call the remainder of his witnesses and
    58        then for you to call all your witnesses; or whether you
    59        would prefer to get on with your environmental witnesses
    60        and then deal with publication and counterclaim, which it
 
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