CIVIL PROCEDURE — Res Judicata — Finality of Consent Judgment and Estoppel by Record

"It needs to be emphasised that unless all the above constituent elements or requirements of the doctrine are fully established, the plea of estoppel per rem judicatam cannot be sustained … A consent judgment can in an appropriate case sustain a plea of res judicata. The fact that a judgment was obtained upon a consent of both parties will not bar it from operating as an estoppel. … A judgment is not the less final because it is a judgment entered by consent of the parties. Such a judgment is as much a final judgment as one resulting from a contested hearing."