Pubications > Can you be served a legal document via your social media profile in Queensland?
In what appears to have been a world-first decision, an Australian court allowed service of court documents via a social networking website where personal service was impractical and the court was satisfied that service by Facebook will bring the document to the relevant party’s attention. |
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MKM Capital Pty Ltd v Corbo & Poyser
In the case of MKM Capital Pty Ltd v Corbo & Poyser (Unreported, ACT Supreme Court, Master Harper, 12 December 2008) the defendants Ms Corbo and Mr Poyser, failed to keep up with repayments on a loan from MKM Capital Pty Ltd (MKM) and did not appear in court to defend the action.
MKM obtained a default judgment for the loan amount and possession of the defendant’s house. MKM made numerous attempts to personally serve the default judgment on the defendants, each of which was unsuccessful.
MKM then applied to the court for an order for substituted service and r 6460(3) of the Court Procedures Rules 2006 (ACT) provides that a court can make such order if it is satisfied that:
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it is impracticable, for any reason, for the document to be served in the authorised way; and |
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the alternative way is reasonably likely to bring the document to the attention of the person to be served. |
MKM led evidence showing that service in the authorised way would be impracticable and submitted that an alternative way of service by Facebook would bring the documents to the defendant’s attention. In particular, MKM’s evidence showed that:
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the dates of birth and email addresses displayed on the Facebook profiles matched the 2 defendants; and |
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the ‘friend’ list on the Facebook profiles showed that each of the 2 defendants were friends with the other. |
On the basis of this evidence, the ACT Supreme Court decided that this was reasonably likely that the document would be brought to the defendant’s attention and ordered substituted service of the default judgment be effected by sending a private message to the defendant’s Facebook page informing the entry and terms of the default judgment.
Citigroup Pty Ltd v Weerakoon
In an earlier case, Citigroup Pty Ltd v Weerakoon [2008] QDC 174, the Queensland District Court reached the opposite conclusion regarding the suitability of Facebook as a method of serving court documents.
In this case, an application for substituted service by email to the defendant’s Facebook page was refused, due to:
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the ‘uncertainty’ of the Facebook page; |
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the fact that anyone can create an identity that could mimic the true person’s identity; and |
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the court not being satisfied that the person who created the Facebook page was indeed the defendant. |
Accordingly, the court did not allow service to be effected by Facebook in this instance because of the inherent uncertaintity surrounding accurate identification of the person who was to be served.
British High Court serves first writ on Twitter
On a related note, The British High Court ordered its first injunction via Twitter on 1 October 2009, stating the social website and microblogging service was the best way to reach an anonymous "Tweeter" who had been impersonating the Donal Blaney on the micro blogging site Twitter.
The MKM Capital case demonstrates that Australian courts are prepared to adapt to new and novel situations and modern technologies. Courts have now recognised social networking websites as a practical way of communication.
Elicia Lin B.Bus.,LL.B.,GradDipLegalPrac
Solicitor
"The information contained in this article is general in nature and cannot be regarded as anything more than general comment. Readers of this article should not act on the basis of this comment without consulting one of Rostron Carlyle's legal practitioners who will consider their particular circumstances".
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