In Personam
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''In personam'' is a
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
phrase meaning "against a particular person". In a
lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...
in which the case is against a specific individual, that person must be served with a
summons A summons (also known in England and Wales as a claim form or plaint note, and in the Australian state of New South Wales as a court attendance notice (CAN)) is a legal document issued by a court (a ''judicial summons'') or by an administrative ag ...
and complaint (in England & Wales known as Particulars of Claim (CPR 1999)) to give the
court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...
jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...
to try the case, and the
judgment Judgement (or judgment) is the evaluation of given circumstances to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. In an informal context, a judgement is opinion expressed as fact. In the context of a legal trial ...
applies to that person and is called an "in personam judgment". In personam is distinguished from '' in rem'', which applies to property or "all the world" instead of a specific person. This technical distinction is important to determine where to file a lawsuit and how to serve a
defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one juris ...
. ''In personam'' means that a judgment can be enforceable against the person wherever he/she is. On the other hand, if the lawsuit is to determine title to
property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, re ...
(''in rem'') then the action must be filed where the property exists and is only enforceable there.


See also

*
Personal jurisdiction Personal jurisdiction is a court's jurisdiction over the ''parties'', as determined by the facts in evidence, which bind the parties to a lawsuit, as opposed to subject-matter jurisdiction, which is jurisdiction over the ''law'' involved in the ...
*'' quasi in rem'' *'' in rem'' *''
sui iuris ''Sui iuris'' (), also spelled ''sui juris'', is a Latin phrase that literally means "of one's own right". It is used in both the Catholic Church's canon law and secular law. The term church ''sui iuris'' is used in the Catholic ''Code of Canon ...
'' *
Suitable age and discretion Suitable age and discretion is both a legal definition of maturity (and by contrast immaturity),''Temple v. Norris'', 55 N.W. 133, 133–134 (Minn. 1893), found aGoogle books Accessed March 30, 2010. and an alternate method of service of proces ...
* Prerogative legislation


References

Latin legal terminology Civil procedure {{latin-legal-phrase-stub