A judge has ruled that environmental activist Linda Clark does not need to pay the costs of a preliminary hearing in a libel case brought by developer Morne Botes over Facebook posts made by Clark.
Acting Justice Alistair Walters, in a ruling published on 26 May, determined that no decision on costs would be made until after the full libel trial is completed.
After the judge had ruled earlier this month that the words used by Clark in the Facebook posts were defamatory, Botes had applied to recover the costs of bringing the preliminary part of the case before the court.
In his latest ruling on costs, Walters noted that, although the earlier hearing had dealt with the preliminary issue of whether the words in question were defamatory to Botes and found in his favour, “there is no way of knowing who might prevail overall in the case”.
The posts on the Cayman Development Watch Facebook page related to Botes’s proposed Barkers Beach Resort development in West Bay.
Clark had argued during the preliminary hearing that the words in the post did not specifically name Botes and that she had been referring to developers and developments generally, and therefore the comments were not defamatory to Botes.
However, in his ruling, Walters noted, “In my view, the words complained of are defamatory of the Plaintiff and bear the meaning alleged by him in his Statement of Claim.”
In the costs ruling, which was heard on 11 May, the judge said, “In my opinion, the correct and fair order for costs in this case is that there be costs in the cause and they will fall to be determined at the final trial of the action.”
‘Costs in the cause’ means that the costs of a preliminary hearing will be paid by the party that ultimately loses the case.
No trial date has yet been set for the final hearing, but a GoFundMe page set up to help cover Clark’s legal costs indicates she plans to appeal against the preliminary judgment as well as retain lawyers to represent her at the full trial.
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