Yemini v Twitter International Company

The Federal Court granted leave to a prospective applicant to serve an originating application seeking preliminary discovery outside Australia. The prospective applicant, Mr Yemini, sought leave to serve the application on Twitter International Company and Twitter Inc, both of whom are based in the United States of America and Ireland. The application was to be served pursuant to Division 10.4 of the Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth), which relates to service of documents outside Australia. The prospective applicant sought leave to serve the application via substituted service, but the court refused this request.
The court considered whether the prospective applicant had made an effective application for leave to serve the originating application and affidavit. The court found that the prospective applicant had established that there was a sufficient connection between the subject matter of the proceedings and the prospective respondents’ activities in Australia. The court also found that the prospective applicant had established that there was no other reasonable means of serving the application on the prospective respondents. However, the court found that the prospective applicant had not established that the prospective respondents had engaged in conduct that would make it appropriate to order substituted service.
The court granted leave to serve the originating application and affidavit on the prospective respondents in the United States of America and Ireland. The court ordered that the application and affidavit be served by sending them by international registered post to the prospective respondents’ addresses. The court refused leave to serve via substituted service. The court reserved costs and listed the matter for a case management hearing.