CIVIL PROCEDURE — Res Judicata — Plea of Res Judicata Succeeds Where All Conditions Are Met

"The doctrine of res judicata rests on the principle that there must be an end to litigation. A party should not and must not be allowed to relitigate a matter that has been settled in a final decision of a court of competent jurisdiction. The law is that for a plea of res judicata to succeed, the following condition must be met: 1. There must be an adjudication of the issues joined by the parties; 2. The parties or their privies as the case may be must be the same in the present case as in the previous case; 3. The issues and subject matter must be the same in the previous case as in the present case; 4. The adjudication in the previous case must have been by a court of competent jurisdiction; and 5. The previous decision must have finally decided the issue between the parties, i.e. the rights of the parties must have been finally determined."