A comma is a punctuation mark; "but" is a word.
You asked me if I had omitted BUT, I said no I had omitted a comma. As I was the author of the piece I was in a better position to know how I intended to convey my message than you were.
I am not interested in silly ping pong games about English grammar so let's call it a day at this point.
I still think this very well written summary requires a "but" in it.
"Yeah, but our laws are considered "third world" in large parts of the west.
The McCann v Amaral case ceased to be a libel trial early doors.
Bearing in mind it was 1.2MM writ, most of it was thrown out on the first pass. The final judgment in the court of first instance came down to whether Mr Amaral, as a former employee of the state, remained bound by the same rules in retirement as he was when in employment. If so and he had profited by bucking those rules the judge had to decide how the balance be redressed and rule on it, to whit pay the dosh plus interest to the plaintiff. Which is what she ordered[, or but] that judgement was subsequently appealed to by Mr. Amaral"