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.

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in personam British  

/ ɪn pɜːˈsəʊnæm /

adjective

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

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Etymology

Origin of in personam

Borrowed into English from Latin around 1880–85

Example Sentences

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 Campbell, Robert Granville

Tutius est pignori incumbere quam in personam agere.

From The Care of Books by Clark, John Willis

The Court thereupon proceeded to hold that admiralty had jurisdiction in personam as well as in rem, over controversies arising out of contracts of affreightment between New York and Providence.

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 Corwin, Edward Samuel

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 Corwin, Edward Samuel

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