Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Catherine Hughes will appeal a High Court ruling that dismissed her libel case against Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and awarded him $4,099,999 in costs.
The sum has been quoted by Nigel Hughes as “the highest sum ever imposed against a claimant in the High Court”.
The case centred on Jagdeo’s reference to Hughes as a “low life,” a comment the court found to be both fair and reasonable. In her written judgment, Justice Priscilla Chandra-Haniff expressed the view that the description of Catherine Hughes MP as a “low life” in the following terms: “The Court has concluded that the comment made by the defendant was fair and reasonable .”
The trial spanned fewer than seven full days.
The unprecedented costs award and the court’s decision in favour of Jagdeo have already sparked discussions about their potential impact on political discourse ahead of the next national elections.
Attorney Nigel Hughes, who represents MP Hughes, confirmed that the entire judgment will be appealed.
Attorney-at-law for Jagdeo, Sanjeev Datadin, told the Guyana Standard that counsel for Mrs. Hughes agreed to the amount when making the claim of $150M.
“It’s clear and provided for in the Civil Procedure Rules. Its ‘prescribed costs’ as set out in the rules and is based on the amount of the claim against the Defendant.”
He added, “He claimed $150 million and that’s the costs prescribed by the Rules for that amount.”
