Res judicata meaning

Nasir v Zavarco Plc [2025] UKSC 5 Background The respondent, Zavarco, allotted a substantial block of shares to the appellant, Nasir. A quarrel followed over whether Nasir had to pay cash or could satisfy the price by transferring shares in a different company. Zavarco issued proceedings (the ‘2016 Claim’). The judge found for Zavarco, declaring that Nasir’s shares were unpaid and that, under Zavarco’s articles of association, the company could forfeit them. Zavarco then exercised that power and forfeited the shares. Under the articles, Nasir remained bound to pay for the shares, so Zavarco commenced a second action (the ‘2018 Claim’) to recover the consideration. That claim was dismissed: the chief master held that Zavarco’s cause of action in the second suit had merged into the judge’s earlier declarations and was thereby extinguished. In the chief master’s view, the prior judgment absorbed the claim, leaving nothing further to sue upon, and so the monetary demand could not proceed. Zavarco appealed. The appeal judge allowed it, concluding that while, in...

In this issue: Arbitration in England & Wales International Arbitration Sector-and industry-specific arbitration Institutional and ad hoc arbitration Other arbitration and ADR-related news and developments Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Useful information Arbitration in England & Wales Arbitration Bill receives Royal Assent, strengthening England and Wales as an arbitration hub The Arbitration Bill secured Royal Assent from His Majesty the King on 24 February 2025, and now takes effect as the Arbitration Act 2025. This targeted refinement of the Arbitration Act 1996 further consolidates London’s standing as a premier arbitration seat. See News Analysis: Arbitration Bill receives Royal Assent, strengthening England and Wales as an arbitration hub and LNB News 25/02/2025 7. Court of Appeal—final anti-suit injunction varied to avoid Russian court penalty In UniCredit v RusChemAlliance [2025] EWCA Civ 99, the Court of Appeal modified a final anti-suit injunction, removing the injunctive relief while keeping a declaration that...

‘Blue Gas Holding’ (Republic of Poland v PD, Swedish Supreme Court Case No. T 555-24) What are the practical implications of this case? The Swedish Supreme Court has signalled a pro‑arbitration posture in Blue Gas Holding, offering clearer direction on how far the Court of Justice’s Achmea doctrine extends. Put briefly, where a non‑EU investor’s discrete stake within a broader investment can be identified separately from EU investors’ interests, a tribunal seated in Sweden may take jurisdiction over that individual claim. Consequently, Sweden‑seated tribunals could now accept jurisdiction in scenarios where some tribunals, until recently, might have reached the opposite conclusion. Nonetheless, determining jurisdiction demands a rigorous examination of res judicata, a factor that can complicate proceedings and outcomes. Following Blue Gas Holding, a key issue in mixed investor disputes—those involving both EU and non‑EU participants—is whether the non‑EU investors’ claims can be delineated and permitted to advance without inadvertently causing the EU investors’ claims to become res judicata, whether in Sweden or in another pertinent legal order. The...

This Practice Note outlines the options open to landowners faced with unlawful occupation by a trespasser or squatter, the issues that can follow from trespass, and the potential measures the owner may pursue, including physical repossession. It considers the Criminal Law Act 1977 (CLA 1977) and the exception for displaced residential occupiers, the use of police powers to arrest where suitable, the effect of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO 2012) in criminalising residential squatting, injunctions and interim injunctions, and damages, including the negotiating damages approach, mesne profits, exemplary and aggravated damages, anticipated damages, and res judicata defences. The ways a landowner can recover possession from a trespasser include: physical repossession arrest of the trespasser by the police for a criminal offence injunction possession claim (including a claim for an interim possession order) Beyond the remedies available to recover possession, a landowner may also claim damages for the trespass. Such claims may involve negotiating damages,...

This Practice Note explores how domestic and overseas arbitral awards are recognised and enforced in the Cayman Islands. For a brief introduction to the Cayman arbitration framework, including the Arbitration Act 2012 (the 2012 Act), see Practice Note: Stay of court proceedings and anti-suit injunctions in support of arbitration in the Cayman Islands—an introduction to the Cayman Islands arbitration regime. Note: the judgments of the Cayman Islands courts mentioned in this Practice Note are not reported by LexisNexis® UK. The regime for the enforcement of arbitral awards in the Cayman Islands The UK government extended the operation of the 1958 New York Convention on the Enforcement of Arbitral Awards (the New York Convention) to the Cayman Islands by notifying the Secretary‑General of the United Nations, with effect from 24 February 1981. The notification included a reservation that the Cayman Islands would apply the New York Convention only to the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards rendered in the territory of another Contracting State. The Foreign Arbitral Awards Enforcement...

Practice Note This Practice Note consists of two strands created to help dispute resolution practitioners remain up to date with developments in case law that affect their field, or which influence civil litigation procedure more generally: selected forthcoming appeals to the Supreme Court are highlighted below; see Key forthcoming appeals to the Supreme Court—2022 summaries of significant appeal decisions in England and Wales (ie rulings of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court and, where appropriate, certain judgments of the Competition Appeal Tribunal, Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Court of Justice of the European Union), and ECtHR, which we have covered; see: Key forthcoming appeal cases—2022 You can navigate this content using the table of contents in the left-hand margin. Alternatively, search this tracker using [CTRL]+[F]. This material is not intended to be a comprehensive register of every appeal or major decision relevant to dispute resolution practitioners. Key forthcoming appeals to the Supreme Court—2022 Tort and negligence ...