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In depth
Res judicata (Latin for 'a matter judged' or 'a thing adjudicated') is the legal principle that a final judgment on the merits of a claim bars re-litigation of the same claim between the same parties.
For CBD cases, res judicata means that once a court issues a final judgment (sentence) on a citizenship claim, the same petitioner cannot re-litigate the same claim in the same court. However, the petitioner can appeal the judgment to a higher court.
Res judicata does not prevent other family members from filing their own CBD claims based on the same ancestry — each family member's claim is a separate case, even if the facts are similar. However, a favorable judgment for one family member may be used as evidence (persuasive, not binding) in another family member's case.
Related terms
A sentence (Italian: sentenza) is a court's final judgment in a CBD case, recognizing or denying the petitioner's citizenship claim.
An appeal is a request to a higher court to review and overturn a lower court's decision, available in CBD cases that result in an unfavorable sentence.
A hearing is a court proceeding at which the parties present arguments and evidence, typically one hearing in an Italian 1948 CBD case.
Lex loci (Latin for 'law of the place') is the legal principle that the law of the place where an event occurred governs the legal consequences of that event.
Lex domicilii (Latin for 'law of the domicile') is the legal principle that the law of a person's domicile governs certain legal relationships, complementing lex loci in CBD cases.
Sui generis (Latin for 'of its own kind') is a legal term describing something unique, often applied to citizenship regimes that don't fit standard categories.