What does it mean when a claim is barred?

When a claim is described as being barred, it signifies that the plaintiff is precluded from bringing the same cause of action again in the future after having already lost on that claim. This is generally due to principles such as res judicata (claim preclusion), which prevents parties from re-litigating issues that have already been decided by a competent court. This ensures finality in legal proceedings and avoids the inefficiencies and burdens of repeated litigation over the same issue.

In this context, if a plaintiff has lost a case, they cannot simply file another lawsuit based on the same facts or legal theories that were already adjudicated, as this would undermine the integrity of the judicial system and the concept of final judgments. This underscores the importance of providing conclusive determination of disputes in legal matters.