GBADEGBE JSC:-
We have given careful thought and consideration to the appeal herein and come to the view that the decision of the trial court to try the question of res judicata as a preliminary point of law was wrong for the reasons which follow shortly. In the first place, at the time of the order being made, there was no certainty regarding the area in respect of which the plea of res judicata, if upheld by the court was to apply. In our opinion before a court of law can cause the issue of res judicata to be determined before a full scale trial, the identity of the area to which it relates in relation to the previous judgment on which the point is planked must be clear. In relation to the subject matter of the action herein the identity of the disputed land must either be the same or have a juridical identity with the area covered by the previous judgment; both areas must be relational, so to say. See: Radstock Co-op Industrial Society Ltd v. Norton- Radstock UD [1968] 2 All ER 59. …