Argonaut Partners Pty Ltd v Abyssinian Metals Ltd

In the case of Argonaut Partners Pty Ltd v Abyssinian Metals Ltd, the plaintiff sought to serve the defendant, which is a foreign company, with proceedings outside of Australia. The court had to decide whether the plaintiff had complied with the procedural requirements set out in the Supreme Court (Corporations) (WA) Rules 2004 (WA) (Corporations Rules) and the Rules of the Supreme Court 1902 (WA) (RSC) in order to validly serve the defendant outside of Australia. The plaintiff argued that they had complied with the necessary procedural requirements, while the defendant argued that the plaintiff had not obtained the requisite leave of the court to serve the writ of summons outside of Australia.

The court considered the interaction between O 5 r 9 RSC and O 10 r 1A(2) RSC, and held that a plaintiff must seek leave to serve a writ of summons outside the jurisdiction as an anterior step to the filing of the writ itself. The court found that the plaintiff had not obtained the requisite leave to serve the writ of summons outside of Australia, and therefore the writ was defective. The court held that the absence of leave pursuant to O 5 r 9 made the writ defective, though not a nullity. The court also held that the plaintiff's failure to obtain leave to serve the writ of summons outside of Australia meant that it did not have jurisdiction over the defendant.

The court dismissed the plaintiff's application for leave to serve the writ of summons outside of Australia as an interlocutory application. The court held that the plaintiff's failure to obtain leave to serve the writ of summons outside of Australia meant that it did not have jurisdiction over the defendant, and therefore it was not appropriate to grant leave to serve the writ of summons outside of Australia. The court also held that the plaintiff's application for leave to serve the writ of summons outside of Australia was an interlocutory application, and that it was not appropriate to grant leave in those circumstances.