Personal Bar: Case-law in Search of Principle

Like the law of estoppel, its broad equivalent in Common Law jurisdictions, the law of personal bar in Scotland has an extensive case-law but an uncertain conceptual structure. This article draws upon that case-law to offer the framework of analysis for a unitary doctrine in which the central focus is the assessment of unfairness. The framework invites a reappraisal of the traditional terminological divisions within personal bar in order to identify indicators of unfairness specific to the particular context in question.