Saffari v Amazon.com Inc (No 2)

In *Saffari v Amazon.com Inc (No 2)*, the applicant, Mr. Saffari, sought to join Amazon.com Inc. and Amazon Web Services Inc. (collectively, Amazon) as respondents to his existing proceeding against Amazon.com.au Pty Ltd. The dispute concerned allegations of misleading and deceptive conduct and breaches of consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law. Mr. Saffari sought to amend his originating application to include these additional respondents.

The primary legal issue before Street J was whether the court should grant leave to amend the originating application to add Amazon.com Inc. and Amazon Web Services Inc. as respondents. This required the court to consider the principles governing the joinder of parties and the amendment of pleadings, particularly in circumstances where the proposed new respondents were alleged to be related to the existing respondent and involved in the same course of conduct.

Street J applied the principles established in cases such as *BHP Billiton Ltd v Australian Competition and Consumer Commission* and *A.I.M. Medical Pty Ltd v Medical Innovations Pty Ltd*. His Honour considered whether the proposed respondents were necessary parties to the proceeding, whether their joinder would cause prejudice to the existing parties, and whether the proposed amendments were likely to succeed on their merits. The court noted that while the proposed respondents were related entities and involved in the same overall business, the applicant had not sufficiently demonstrated that they were directly involved in the specific conduct giving rise to the claim, nor that they were necessary parties for the just and convenient determination of the proceeding.

Ultimately, Street J dismissed the application for leave to amend the originating application. His Honour found that the applicant had not satisfied the onus of demonstrating that the proposed respondents were necessary parties or that their joinder was otherwise required for the just and convenient resolution of the dispute.