Day 114 - 04 Apr 95 - Page 02
1 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I have just been handed a document. It
2 calls itself the Farm Animal Welfare Council Report on the
3 Welfare of Livestock (Red Meat Animals) at the time of
4 Slaughter. It is 77 pages in length. I do not know where
5 it came from. It is covered in markings. Mr. Morris tells
6 me that he only received it last night. I do not know
7 whether and if so what references are to be made to it in
8 the course of Dr. Long's evidence. Without some very good
9 explanation why it has not been disclosed before this
10 witness was called, before my experts on rearing and
11 slaughter were called, I would ask your Lordship to do what
12 your Lordship once threatened to do which is now exclude
13 it.
14
15 MS. STEEL: If it is of any assistance, this document was
16 actually referred to by Dr. Gregory. It is the one that
17 lists the 100 recommendations. He did actually refer to it
18 on a number of occasions during his evidence.
19
20 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, but why was it not produced if you want
21 to refer to it?
22
23 MR. MORRIS: The first time I ever saw it was yesterday when
24 Dr. Long gave it to us in the morning. I did not have time
25 to read it until the evening when I realised this is
26 actually the document referred to, as far as I can see, in
27 the London Greenpeace fact sheet, the subject of the
28 action. It is a public document. It has been referred to
29 in the case. Basically, we have disclosed it at the
30 earliest available opportunity. I had it yesterday morning
31 but I could not copy it, Mr. Rampton.
32
33 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Can I say again (because I have said it many
34 times before), the fact that a document is what you call "a
35 public document" is neither here nor there. If it is an
36 Act of Parliament or a regulation, clearly, I can be
37 referred to it at any stage right out of the blue because
38 it is a matter of law which I have to decide, but it does
39 not matter that a document is public in the sense that it
40 has been produced by a government department or some
41 particularly respectable body.
42
43 The fact that it has been referred to by an earlier
44 witness, in fact, one might think is the best ground for
45 getting hold of it earlier rather than later.
46
47 MR. MORRIS: The Plaintiffs could have done that.
48
49 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I might be tempted to do what Mr. Rampton
50 asked me were it not that -- I should be entirely candid --
51 that I have been waiting and have thought to ask on
52 occasions, but it has probably just slipped my mind, what
53 the recent British government report was which is referred
54 to at the beginning of the fourth subparagraph under: "In
55 what way are McDonald's responsible for torture and
56 murder?" What is the date of the FAWC report you have
57 there?
58
59 MR. MORRIS: The FAWC report -----
60
