Day 097 - 06 Mar 95 - Page 17
1 privilege of being young.
2
3 MR. MORRIS: I think I have spoken to virtually every one
4 because I actually organised the situation. If I can say
5 something, I think the Plaintiffs are trying to paint a
6 certain picture. I think it would be helpful if that was
7 balanced or countered with the fact that the Plaintiffs
8 have decided to sue over ------
9
10 MR. JUSTICE BELL: At the moment I am not concerned about -- I
11 will be entirely candid, I am concerned about the public
12 interest. If employment witnesses took to the end of the
13 summer term, when would the evidence finish altogether, and
14 we had the whole of the long vacation ---
15
16 MR. RAMPTON: Our calculation -----
17
18 MR. JUSTICE BELL: -- off? When I say "off", I mean not in
19 court.
20
21 MR. RAMPTON: The Defendants' employment witnesses will not then
22 start until 3rd October. It is not then that the ------
23
24 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I thought -- so it will take the whole summer
25 for your employment witnesses?
26
27 MR. RAMPTON: Yes, it will. Starting, assuming we do, on 26th
28 April, there are some general witnesses -- for example, at
29 the moment I have Mr. Nicholson down for two weeks, not
30 because I shall ask him questions for more than about a day
31 and a bit, but one has seen what has happened and so one
32 has to give him that -----
33
34 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is just not acceptable. I will have to
35 put time limits on evidence-in-chief and cross-examination
36 if it is suggested it will take 15 weeks to do one section.
37
38 MR. RAMPTON: Your Lordship has noticed the amount of time that
39 I spend in-chief. It is not that that takes the time, nor
40 is it my own cross-examination.
41
42 MR. JUSTICE BELL: But, I mean, the limits may well be
43 acceptable to the Defendants. They may certainly not need
44 two weeks to cross-examine Mr. Nicholson.
45
46 MR. RAMPTON: I cannot say, my Lord. I am entirely in your
47 Lordship's hands. This is based on bitter experience, as
48 I said earlier. One saw that Dr. Gomez Gonzalez was,
49 I think, nine days in the witness box. He covered a lot of
50 ground but then so does Mr. Nicholson. He is, in a sense,
51 a witness on publication as well as on employment. I would
52 be delighted (and I have no doubt Mr. Nicholson would) if
53 he was over in five days which may be about the right sort
54 of time in normal circumstances for him to give evidence,
55 but this is the problem we face.
56
57 We have tried to do it realistically, having regards to the
58 way in which the cross-examination has been conducted by
59 the Defendants in this case so far. Now that we are in
60 chambers I can say that I have sat here thinking sometimes
