Day 064 - 08 Dec 94 - Page 31
1 MS. STEEL: Right.
2
3 MR. JUSTICE BELL: -- because it is contested. My recollection
4 is there is some law on it and there may even have to be
5 evidence as to the circumstances into which you came into
6 possession of it and what your appreciation of its status
7 was at the time.
8
9 MS. STEEL: Can I also say that when we brought this up in the
10 opening speech, Mr. Rampton actually got up and said that
11 they had not disclosed it by accident and that it was not a
12 problem.
13
14 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am anxious not to prejudge it one way or
15 the other. All I am saying is we have obviously got to
16 have a set piece argument about it. The question is to
17 what extent we can or cannot proceed with Mr. Oakley's
18 cross-examination or, possibly, leave any further
19 cross-examination if you are allowed to use the letters to
20 some future time.
21
22 MR. RAMPTON: I have a serious doubt whether it is anything
23 about which Mr. Oakley will have a question to answer. I
24 may be wrong about that.
25
26 MR. JUSTICE BELL: But that may be a matter -- there are two
27 stages, it seems to me, probably; first of all, whether you
28 are allowed to use the documents at all or disclose any of
29 their contents, and whether McDonald's are entitled to have
30 them returned. If you win on that first issue, there is
31 then the question of whether you should be allowed to put
32 them or anything in them in cross-examination to
33 Mr. Oakley.
34
35 I cannot decide the second matter before I have decided the
36 first. It would be illogical to seek to do so. What
37 I suggest you do is continue with your cross-examination,
38 apart from such part of it as must depend upon putting
39 these letters or any part of them. Mr. Rampton can
40 re-examine. Mr. Oakley can go. When we have dealt with
41 the question of the status of the letters we can reconsider
42 the question of recall of Mr. Oakley if it is applicable.
43
44 What I am asking you to do, speaking figuratively, is to
45 put a cordon sanitaire around these letters for the time
46 being until we have had time to consider properly their
47 status.
48
49 MS. STEEL: OK.
50
51 MR. MORRIS (To the witness): Just on the subject before we go
52 to a particular letter, is your recollection that that
53 there were four consignments of Brazilian beef of 20 tonnes
54 each bought in the UK, a total of 80 tonnes?
55 A. No, I do not recollect the figure.
56
57 Q. It would have been something like that, would it?
58 A. I do not know.
59
60 Q. If we go to volume yellow XIV, Destruction of the
