Another Swing At The Bat – Res Judicata Explained

The legal doctrine of res judicata exists to prevent the same dispute from being litigated more than once. Res judicata is grounded in two principles of public policy. First, the state has an interest in upholding finality in litigation; second, that an individual is not punished more than once for the same offence. The doctrine has at least two distinct forms: issue estoppel and cause of action estoppel. Issue estoppel means that a litigant is prevented from relitigating a specific issue that was clearly decided in a prior proceeding. Cause of action estoppel means that a litigant cannot proceed because the legal right they had has been conclusively dealt with in a previous proceeding.

The Supreme Court of Canada in Danyluk v. Ainsworth Technologies Inc., 2001 SCC 44 (CanLII), established the framework for issue estoppel. This framework consists of two stages. The first stage requires that: 1. The same question was decided in prior proceedings; 2. The prior decision was final; and,