Defamation Act 2005

In awarding costs in defamation proceedings, the court may have regard to —

the way in which the parties to the proceedings conducted their cases (including any misuse of a party’s superior financial position to hinder the early resolution of the proceedings); and

any other matters that the court considers relevant.

Without limiting subsection (1), a court must (unless the interests of justice require otherwise) —

if defamation proceedings are successfully brought by a plaintiff and costs in the proceedings are to be awarded to the plaintiff — order costs of and incidental to the proceedings to be assessed on an indemnity basis if the court is satisfied that the defendant unreasonably failed to make a settlement offer or agree to a settlement offer proposed by the plaintiff; or

if defamation proceedings are unsuccessfully brought by a plaintiff and costs in the proceedings are to be awarded to the defendant — order costs of and incidental to the proceedings to be assessed on an indemnity basis if the court is satisfied that the plaintiff unreasonably failed to accept a settlement offer made by the defendant.

In this section —