Former WA barrister Rayney ordered to pay almost $14,000

Former prominent Perth barrister Lloyd Rayney has been ordered to pay almost $14,000 to prosecutors over a failed bid to put a hold on phone interception charges against him.

Mr Rayney unsuccessfully argued he could not get a fair trial due to the publicity about him and his estranged wife, Corryn, who was murdered in August 2007.

The trial proceeded and Mr Rayney was cleared of two charges after a judge ruled that the evidence did not support the allegations.

Supreme Court Justice John Chaney ruled on Tuesday that Mr Rayney should pay commonwealth prosecutors $13,957 to cover fees charged by senior counsel at the hearing of the application.

It had been submitted that Mr Rayney's legal work was done with legal aid grants or on a pro bono basis, and that he could not meet a costs order.

But Justice Chaney did not accept that was enough to "depart from the usual order that the unsuccessful party pay the costs of the successful party".

Mr Rayney was acquitted in 2012 of murdering his wife and a subsequent appeal was dismissed.

He is suing the state after senior police made allegedly defamatory comments about Mr Rayney a month after his wife's death.