The Full Court, comprising Justice Fidela Corbin-Lincoln and Justice Nicola Pierre, has dismissed an appeal by social media commentator Mikhail Rodrigues, known as the ‘Guyanese Critic’, seeking to overturn a $22.5 million defamation judgment against him. The High Court’s decision remains intact, and Rodrigues is now required to pay court costs.
Last year, Justice Nigel Niles ordered Rodrigues and his platform, “They Break News,” to pay damages totaling $22.5 million, along with an additional $3.5 million in punitive damages to Azruddin and Nazar Mohameds for defamation. Following the ruling, Rodrigues expressed disagreement and appealed the judgment.
In his appeal, Rodrigues argued that Justice Niles had erred in law and misapplied relevant legal principles, specifically regarding the extension of time for a defendant to file a response. He contended that the judge placed undue emphasis on procedural rules without adequately considering the overarching objective of determining cases fairly and on their merits.
However, the Full Court upheld Justice Niles’s decision, stating, “Having considered the decision of the learned trial judge, the grounds of appeal, and the submissions, I find that the appeal should be dismissed since the learned trial judge did not err in refusing to set aside the judgment in default.”
The judges pointed out that Justice Niles correctly applied the criteria for setting aside a judgment in default. They concluded that Rodrigues’s explanation for failing to file a defense was unreasonable and that the defense proposed had “no real prospect of success.”
“There is no basis upon which the court ought to disturb the learned trial judge’s exercise of discretion not to set aside the default judgment,” the Justices stated, affirming the lower court’s ruling.
The Full Court also acknowledged that the criteria for awarding costs and the default judgment regime were properly applied, resulting in the dismissal of Rodrigues’s appeal.
