Sherwood, you're right that a party can win and not get its costs, or indeed that it can win and have a costs award against it (although not sure how the defamation protocol applies to this case) but do you know for sure that no settlement offers have been made in one direction or the other? If not, then that's a great shame and rather foolish. If nthing else, a well formulated settlement offer, even if rejected, can offer huge protection on costs if and/or when the case gets to trial.

Settlement offers are by their very nature supposed to be kept confidential and out of the public domain so for all we know, attempts have been made at negotiation and/or some form of ADR but for whatever reason, have failed. Unfortunately, in these kinds of cases, the parties can become horribly entrenched in their respective positions and it becomes about a principle and not losing face rather than finding a solution. There must be an acceptable middle ground to all this - if one has been suggested and rejected, well, as Sherwood says, a costs order against the rejecting party may be looming over the horizon.