Day 091 - 17 Feb 95 - Page 09

     
     1        have not worked out our schedule yet, which we will do next
     2        week, for our food hygiene and animal welfare witnesses.
     3        But, in any event, I think there needs to be a discussion
     4        about any outstanding witnesses not on employment.
     5        Mr. Beavers may be slightly different.
     6
     7   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Quite frankly, I think an important step for
     8        you to take is to give thought as early next week as you
     9        can to which witnesses you are actually calling on what we
    10        call rearing and slaughter and food poisoning, and when you
    11        are going to put them in.  You should be able to make
    12        something of an estimate as to how long you are going to
    13        take taking them in-chief because you have done that with
    14        some witnesses now, so you have got the experience to make
    15        a half decent estimate of that.
    16
    17        You should do your best, having heard Mr. Rampton
    18        cross-examine some of your witnesses, to make an estimate
    19        of how long he would take.  When you put them in, I suggest
    20        you not only put a name in a box, say, for one day or two
         days, but put under the name something like "half day
    22        in-chief", do you understand, your estimate of in-chief,
    23        because Mr. Rampton then, or Mrs. Brinley-Codd, can offer
    24        any view of whether the time you have allowed is too little
    25        or too much.
    26
    27        For instance, if you have allowed one day, and put in "half
    28        day in-chief", Mr. Rampton may be happy that he can
    29        cross-examine in half a day.  If he wants longer, the
    30        suggestion will have to be that time must be allowed for
    31        that witness to run into the following day.  On the other
    32        hand, if you put "one day in-chief", and he thinks he is
    33        only going to be cross-examining for half a day, and you
    34        have allowed three -- anyway, you get the hang of it and
    35        that really has got to happen as soon as possible.
    36
    37        We will then have some idea of how much of the three weeks,
    38        which is presently there, is actually going to be taken by
    39        your rearing and slaughter and food poisoning witnesses.
    40        When we have got that, the parties can begin to think, if
         there is time left towards the end of that three weeks, who
    42        we can put in and what, if any, gap you should have before
    43        they are called.
    44
    45        So, I really think the agenda for your own rearing and
    46        slaughter and food poisoning witnesses are the foundation
    47        of everything.
    48
    49   MR. RAMPTON:  Yes.  My Lord, can I say two things about that?
    50        Mr. Morris said that he would be doing that next week, he 
    51        said that not very long ago.  Secondly, I count eight 
    52        potential witnesses ---- 
    53
    54   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.
    55
    56   MR. RAMPTON:  -- including Ms. Hovey and Mr. Clark from
    57        Strathclyde.  I doubt whether my cross-examination of any
    58        of those witnesses would be more than half or three
    59        quarters of a day and probably in most cases a good deal
    60        less than that.  If that is right, then having Mr. Beavers