What is Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel?

 

What is Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel?

The doctrine of collateral estoppel says that an issue or case that has been litigated cannot be litigated again. For collateral estoppel to apply, the following requirements are required.

The issue in the first and second case is the same; The party against whom the doctrine is invoked had the full opportunity to litigate the issue; That party actually litigated the issue; The issue litigated must have been necessary to the final judgment.

The doctrine of res judicata bars the re-litigation of a claim that has already been litigated. There are four factors that must be satisfied for res judicata to apply:

• A previous case in which the same claim was raised or could have been raised;
• The judgment in the prior case involved the same parties or their privies;
• The previous case was resolved by a final judgment on the merits;
• The parties should have a fair opportunity to be heard.

For example, Abela sued John who is a supervisor for sexually harassing her and due to that, she had to quit her job. Abela provided the evidence by producing emails written by him. But John argued that the emails were not real but the judge said that the emails were real and could be submitted as evidence. After a few months after the trial, Abela filed a lawsuit against her employer as he did not take any action about the complaint. If the emails that were submitted by Abela, were not genuine the issue would fall under collateral estoppel. The issue of authenticity of the emails was already decided in the previous case and hence the court cannot redecide the issue.