Law of Evidence- Issue estoppel - application - Criminal Law - Civil Law
“Associated with the doctrines of law pertaining to estoppel and res judicata, is another doctrine referred to as ‘issue estoppel’. Spencer Bower and Handley on “Res Judicata” (cited above, at p. 107) states that, “ a decision (a reference to the final judicial decision contained in a previous case) will create an issue estoppel, if it is determined as an issue in a cause of action as an essential step in the reasoning. Issue estoppel applies to fundamental issues determined in an earlier proceeding which formed the basis of the judgment (the judgment in the previous case). There is nothing new about issue estoppel, which was recognised in the advice of the judges of the House of Lords in the Duchess of Kingston Case.” In common law, the doctrine of issue estoppel is a rule of evidence or of procedure, founded upon the broader concept of estoppel, and derived from the doctrine of res judicata. It prevents (or prohibits) a question that was essential to the first action a...