res judicata

Definition

Fundamental legal doctrine that, once a lawsuit is decided, the litigant parties are barred from raising the same issue again in the courts (unless material new evidence has become available). They are also barred from raising another issue arising from the same claim or transaction (or a series of claims or transactions) that could have been but was not raised in the decided suit. It is based on the principle that court cases cannot be allowed to go on for ever and must come to an end. Latin for, a thing adjudicated.