In their Opening Submissions, the parties addressed the legal principles which they contended were applicable to this Joint Trial. I divide them into two categories. First, there are the principles I should apply which affect my approach to the evidence and my conclusions from the evidence. I deal with these in this section of the Judgment under a series of headings. The second category concerns the relief I should grant and I address these later. In Closing Submissions, Lord Grabiner KC drew my attention to certain important principles which concern the making of findings of forgery, which were already familiar from my October Judgment.

As for my approach to deciding the Identity Issue itself, although there were differences in content and emphasis, I did not detect there to be any real dispute as to the applicable principles. What follows is my distillation of the parties’ very helpful combined submissions. I have endeavoured to apply all these principles.