In Rem

Describing a lawsuit or other action directed at a property rather than a person. That is, one files a lawsuit in rem if there is a dispute over ownership of property and one wishes the court to determine the real owner. In rem actions are most common in disputes involving land.

in rem

Meaning “against the thing.” Lawsuits regarding title to real estate,or claims against real estate, are said to be in rem, so they must be filed in the state and county where the property is located.

References in periodicals archive

Days later in the debate he explained that while the ordinary courts would possess jurisdiction in some classes of cases "there was not the convenience of jurisdiction in rem." House of Commons Debates (13 April 1877, at 1442.

On the other hand, in an early decision in Ontario, it was held that the High Court lacked jurisdiction in rem over a claim for the condemnation of a fishing boat pursuant to the Customs and Fisheries Protection Act, R.S.C.

It is now accepted, despite the view expressed by Sir John Jarvis in The "'Bold Buccleugh', that admiralty jurisdiction in rem depends on the existence of a maritime lien, and that such jurisdiction may also be exercised wherever a statute confers a so-called "statutory right in rein".

Canada's admiralty court in the twentieth century

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