In rem jurisdiction

Jurisdiction in rem (Latin, power about or against "the thing") is a legal term describing the power a court may exercise over property (either real or personal) or a "status" against a person over whom the court does not have "in personam jurisdiction". Jurisdiction in rem assumes the property or status is the primary object of the action, rather than personal liabilities not necessarily associated with the property (quasi in rem jurisdiction).

Within the US federal court system, jurisdiction in rem typically refers to the power a federal court may exercise over real property or large items of moveable property located within the court's territory. The most frequent circumstance in which this occurs in the Anglo-American legal system is when a suit is brought in admiralty law against a vessel to satisfy debts arising from the operation or use of the vessel. However, it can involve other things, such as Margaret Sanger's Japanese pessaries in United States v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries, an important case in United States reproductive and obscenity law. Another example of jurisdiction in rem was the United_States v. Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola.

Within the US state court system, jurisdiction in rem may refer to the power the state court may exercise over real property or personal property or a person's marital status. State courts have the power to determine legal ownership of any real or personal property within the state's boundaries.

A right in rem or a judgment in rem binds the world as opposed to rights and judgments inter partes which only bind those involved in their creation.