The District Court dismissed an appeal from a registrar's refusal to join the Commissioner of Police as a defendant, holding that the necessity test under RSC O 18 r 6(2)(b) was not met because no order in the proceedings could directly affect the Commissioner's rights or liabilities toward any existing party. The Court confirmed that the joinder test must be applied to the proceedings as they stand on the existing writ, not as the plaintiff wishes them to stand through a proposed amended writ that has not been filed. The Court also held that the plaintiff's claims for personal injury did not constitute an apportionable claim under s 5AN of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (WA), so that alternative joinder pathway was unavailable.
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