The Court of Appeal has awarded costs to the Legal Aid Board after dismissing John O’Connor’s appeal against the High Court’s dismissal of his action for defamation and malicious falsehood.
In a ruling delivered on 6 May 2025, Mr Justice Charles Meenan said the Board was entitled to its costs, including reserved costs. The costs are to be adjudicated if the parties cannot agree them.
The appeal itself was dismissed in a judgment delivered on 20 February 2025. The costs ruling dealt only with who should pay the appeal costs; it did not revisit the merits of the appeal.
The court had provisionally taken the view that the Board, as the party “entirely successful” in opposing the appeal, should receive its costs. It invited Mr O’Connor to contest that position through written submissions and gave the Board an opportunity to reply. Mr O’Connor submitted his written arguments on 3 March, followed by the Board’s response on 11 March.
The ruling said costs were governed by the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 and the Rules of the Superior Courts. The ordinary rule is that costs follow the event where a party has been entirely successful, unless the court orders otherwise after considering the circumstances and conduct of the proceedings.
The court said Mr O’Connor’s submissions sought to raise what he regarded as errors in the earlier judgment and to revisit matters considered during the appeal. Those issues had no place in costs submissions, the ruling said. It also found he had not identified any basis under the statutory factors, or otherwise, for departing from the ordinary costs rule.
The ruling was delivered electronically. Justices Whelan and Allen authorised Justice Meenan to record their agreement.