Following our article of 01 August 2022 the Court has now delivered its Judgment on costs. Ms Vardy has been ordered to pay Ms Rooney’s costs on what is known as the “indemnity basis”. This means that the £1.5million in costs payable is around 90% of the costs that Ms Rooney has incurred. The usual order for costs is that the losing party pays around 60% of the winning party’s costs. Indemnity costs are awarded to reflect the Court’s dissatisfaction with the paying party’s conduct. Ms Vardy’s conduct cited was her evasive witness evidence and the loss of key evidence in circumstances for which Ms Vardy’s explanations were not deemed credible.
The Court not only awarded costs on the indemnity basis but Mrs Justice Steyn went through her reasons for not having awarded 100% of the costs incurred by Ms Rooney. There were aspects of the claim that were not proven and this accounted for the 10% differential.
Whilst the award of indemnity costs is rare, and in this case very expensive, it is disappointing that no contempt of court proceedings were initiated. Would the costs penalty be sufficient to deter a party in future cases from behaving just as Ms Vardy did? This case just made that less likely.
