linguistic:paraphrasing
Issue estoppel

The civil law use of issue estoppel or res judicata (literally translated as "the fact has been decided") is relatively uncontroversial. It expresses a general public interest that the same issue should not be litigated more than once even when the parties are different. The criminal law application, called double jeopardy provides that a person should not be tried twice for the same offence. A notable case occurred in relation to the Birmingham Six where the House of Lords ruled in Hunter v Chief Constable of the West Midlands Police that issue estoppel applied when the Six sued West Midlands Police for damages for assault. However, in their earlier criminal trial they had claimed to have been assaulted to gain confessions, and that court had rejected the allegation of assault. Lord Diplock said: