Day 016 - 22 Jul 94 - Page 05
1 would say this chart cannot be relied upon as in any way
relevant to the material times of the case.
2
MR. RAMPTON: Mr. Morris repeatedly forgets that the first
3 plaintiff in this case is McDonald's Corporation of
America. This leaflet has been distributed all over the
4 world.
5 MR. MORRIS: I was talking about the times.
6 MS. STEEL: Can I say something? In the pleadings the
plaintiffs have said they are not complaining of
7 distribution elsewhere than in England.
8 MR. RAMPTON: That is not the point.
9 MS. STEEL: It is a fact.
10 MR. RAMPTON: Ms. Steel misunderstands. It is not a question of
where publication is complained of; it is a question of
11 what the truth was of the American corporation as of the
English corporation from 1976, if you like, to date.
12
MS. STEEL: It is a question of what we are responsible for. If
13 you are not complaining of distribution in the USA, you
cannot hold us responsible for whether it relates to the
14 USA or not.
15 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Can we stop this. You say that, but that
may be a matter of argument as to whether someone, albeit
16 based abroad, can, nevertheless, be defamed in this
country. You could, for instance, make defamatory remarks
17 in this country of a well known American politician. It
would not matter that he happened to spend 99 per cent of
18 his time, or all of it, in America, and was an American
citizen.
19
Can I make one point to you because I do not want you to
20 be under any illusion -- when we were going through
yesterday some of the menus which we had and what their
21 total fat, saturated fat, sodium content and percentages
were, things of that kind, if you want to attack that, you
22 can attack it in various ways, but they will not all
necessarily pack the same punch at the end of the day.
23
MR. MORRIS: I understand that.
24
MR. JUSTICE BELL: Suppose you say -- this is by way of example
25 only -- this 16 year old boy had a very light McDonald's
supper. Therefore, you can say you do not meet many 16
26 year olds who have something like that for supper; I am
particularly not choosing a particular instance;
27 therefore, you should not attach weight to that table.
28 MR. MORRIS: Yes.
29 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You might succeed with that argument; you
might not. If, on the other hand, you say: "Look what
30 they have there for a particular meal, salad,
cheeseburger, after the cheese was cut down; if that