Following dismissal of a motion seeking to have the respondent held in contempt of a prior court order concerning possession and transport of a killer whale, the court was required to determine costs.
Both parties sought substantial or full indemnity costs exceeding $250,000, with the moving party also claiming significant U.S. legal fees incurred in related foreign litigation.
The court reaffirmed that the successful party on a contempt motion is presumptively entitled to costs but retains discretion to depart from that result where warranted.
The court declined to award costs against the successful responding party or deny it costs, finding the moving party had failed to meet the high burden of proving contempt beyond a reasonable doubt but had nonetheless brought the motion reasonably.
Costs were awarded to the respondent on a partial indemnity basis in the amount of $100,000 inclusive of disbursements and tax.
