Sarina v O'Shannassy (No 6)

In *Sarina v O'Shannassy (No 6)*, the Federal Court of Australia, presided over by Judge Manousaridis, considered the appropriate orders for costs in a defamation proceeding. The dispute concerned the allocation of costs following various interlocutory applications and the main proceeding, where the respondent had achieved overall success but had lost on certain issues.

The court was required to determine whether costs should follow the event in relation to costs that had been previously reserved, and how costs should be allocated concerning specific issues that the successful respondent had lost. The court also had to decide on the apportionment of costs for the overall proceeding, taking into account the mixed success of the parties.

Judge Manousaridis confirmed the existing costs order made on 4 October 2019, directing that those costs be agreed or taxed. The court ordered the respondent to pay the applicants’ costs for obtaining specific orders made on 13 June 2018 and for an application heard on 7 April 2020. Conversely, each party was ordered to bear their own costs for applications heard on 29 March 2019. The respondent was also ordered to pay the applicants’ costs for the hearing on 15 April 2020. Crucially, for the remaining costs of the proceeding not covered by these specific orders, the court ordered that the applicants pay 40% of the respondent’s costs, with the remaining 60% to be borne by the respondent.