Defamation—Order for costs—Approach

Court of Appeal, Civil Division, Lord Judge CJ, Lord Neuberger and Mr Justice Eady, 22 Jan 2013

If, following an appropriate apology, a claimant chooses to reject a clear and unequivocal offer of damages, and thus incurs additional legal expense himself, and requires the defendant to incur further expense, the burden of what proves to have been unnecessary legal expense should normally fall on the claimant.

James Dingemans QC and Julien Foster (instructed by YVA Solicitors) for the claimant. Desmond Browne QC and Yuli Takatsuki (instructed by MGN Legal Department) for the defendant.

The underlying proceedings involved an action in which the claimant argued that he had been libelled by an article in one of the defendant’s newspapers. The claimant obtained judgment and an order for damages and costs in his favour. The defendant then appealed successfully against the award of damages. The Court of Appeal reduced the judge’s starting point from £150,000 to £100,000.