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in personam

American  
[in per-soh-nam] / ɪn pərˈsoʊ næm /

adverb

Law.
  1. (of a legal proceeding or judgment) directed against a party or parties, rather than against property.


in personam British  
/ ɪn pɜːˈsəʊnæm /

adjective

  1. law (of a judicial act) directed against a specific person or persons Compare in rem

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of in personam

Borrowed into English from Latin around 1880–85

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

But he points out, "If the treaty only created a right in personam the case is different."

From Neutral Rights and Obligations in the Anglo-Boer War by Robert Granville Campbell

The phrase "right in personam" and its co-phrase "right in rem" are so misleading in their implications, as any teacher soon learns, that we may leave them to the textbooks of analytical jurisprudence.

From An Introduction to the Philosophy of Law by Roscoe Pound

Our process must be in rem, not in personam.

From The Continental Monthly, Vol III, Issue VI, June, 1863 Devoted to Literature and National Policy by Various

But in 1906 the Court discovered, by a vote of five-to-four, a situation in which a divorce proceeding is one in personam.

From The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 30, 1952 by Edward Samuel Corwin

In modern times, thinking, whether he knows it or not, in terms of natural rights and by derivation of legal rights, the analytical jurist speaks of rights in personam.

From An Introduction to the Philosophy of Law by Roscoe Pound

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