Cassation Case No.: 242695 Res Judicata

Case Details

• Cassation Case No.: 242695
• Date: October 08, 2017 E.C. (ጥቅምት 08 ቀን 2017 ዓ/ም)
• Applicants:
  1. W/ro Fanaye Doshe Negash
  2. Ato H/Mariam Abate Bekele
• Respondents:
  1. W/ro Abaynesh Dima Selfeko
  2. Sgt. Tesfaye Doshe Negash
  3. Ato Melese Doshe Negash
  Legal Rule (Legal Interpretation)The core legal rule in this case is Article 5(1) of the Civil Procedure Code, which embodies the principle of res judicata (preclusion by judgment). This article states that once a court has rendered a final judgment on a matter, and the subject matter and the issues raised in the previous case are the same as those in a new case, then the parties or their successors in interest cannot bring another lawsuit or any other dispute on the same matter. The purpose of this rule is to ensure that legal disputes are resolved efficiently with minimal cost and time, preventing parties from repeatedly litigating the same issue under different pretexts.Application of the Rule in the Case: The case concerns a dispute over a gift contract for a house and land. The respondents (original plaintiffs) filed a lawsuit seeking the annulment of a gift contract, claiming it was fraudulent. The applicants (original defendants) argued that the matter had already been conclusively decided in previous cases (Case Nos. 64703 and 65820) where the issue was the release of possession, and the court had ruled that the applicants acquired the property through gift and inheritance.The Federal First Instance Court initially ruled on the merits of the gift contract annulment. However, the Federal High Court overturned this, stating that the matter had already been definitively settled in the previous cases (64703 and 65820) and thus could not be re-litigated under Article 5 of the Civil Procedure Code.The Federal Supreme Court’s Appeal Bench then reversed the Federal High Court’s decision, arguing that while the parties were the same, the subject matter and issues in the previous cases (release of possession) were different from the current case (annulment of a gift contract). Therefore, it sent the case back to the Federal High Court for a decision on the merits.The Cassation Bench, upon reviewing the matter, found that the Federal Supreme Court’s Appeal Bench had committed a fundamental error of law. The Cassation Bench determined that the previous cases (64703 and 65820) had indeed addressed the fundamental issue of whether the property was acquired by gift or inheritance, and a final judgment had been rendered on this. Therefore, the current dispute, which seeks to annul the gift contract, directly re-litigates an issue that was already decided. Allowing such a re-litigation would violate the principle of res judicata and undermine the efficiency of the justice system.DecisionThe Cassation Bench overturned the decision of the Federal Supreme Court’s Appeal Bench (Case No. 225883, dated December 14, 2015 E.C.) as it contained a fundamental error of law under Civil Procedure Code Article 348(1). The Cassation Bench upheld the decision of the Federal High Court (Case No. 267883, dated December 21, 2014 E.C.), which had correctly ruled that the case could not be re-litigated under Civil Procedure Code Article 5(1) because it had already received a final judgment in previous cases (64703 and 65820). Each party is to bear their own costs for the cassation proceedings.