Eustice v Channel Seven Adelaide Pty Ltd (No 2)

The case of Eustice v Channel Seven Adelaide Pty Ltd (No 2) involved a defamation action where the plaintiff sought damages against the defendants for defamatory statements made on their television broadcast. The defendants, in turn, applied for indemnity costs and sought interest on those costs. The court was required to determine whether the defendants were entitled to indemnity costs and, if so, whether interest should be awarded on those costs.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the defendants were entitled to indemnity costs of the proceedings and, if so, whether interest should be awarded on those costs. The court had to consider the principle of indemnity costs, which is awarded when a party is successful in defending a claim and the circumstances warrant a higher level of costs recovery. Additionally, the court had to assess whether the award of interest on costs was appropriate, taking into account the compensatory nature of such an award.

In its reasoning, the court concluded that the defendants were entitled to an order that the plaintiff pay their costs on an indemnity basis, but subject to the defendants' concession regarding the period up to and including 7 March 2018. However, the court refused to make an order for interest on the indemnity costs, as it did not have sufficient evidence concerning the timing of when legal costs were paid. The court held that determining the entitlement to and the amount of interest would require a factual inquiry best conducted by a taxing Master. Therefore, the defendants were not precluded from re-agitating the application before a Master upon an adjudication of their costs, if not otherwise agreed.

The court made orders in terms of the proposed orders 1, 2, and 3 but modified order 3 to include the phrase "from the plaintiff" after the word "recover". The proposed order 4 was refused as the court found it was not in a position to rule on the aspect of the defendants' application concerning interest on costs.