Action in personam and action in rem in private international law

If you sue your tenant for unpaid rent, only the tenant is bound by the result. If a High Court declares a marriage void or grants probate of a will, that decision is meant to be true for everyone, not only for the people who appeared. Some court orders bind a person; others settle the standing of a thing or a status against the whole world. Private international law keeps these two kinds of action apart, because the rules on who may sue, where, and whether foreign courts will respect the result are different for each.

In two minutes

An action in personam is a claim against a particular person, and binds only the parties; an action in rem is directed at a thing or a status, and its judgment binds everyone.

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