suit in rem
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 83 U.S. 522 - Steamboat Company v. Chase · 1872Most cited · 219 citing opinions
admiralty
Where the suit is in rem against the thing, the original jurisdiction is exclusive in the District Courts, as provided in the ninth section of the Judiciary Act; but when the suit is in personam against the owner, the party seeking redress may proceed by libel in the District Court, or he may, at his election, proceed in an action at law, either in the Circuit Court if he and the defendant are citizens of different States, or in a State court as in other cases of actions cognizable in the State and Federal courts exercising jurisdiction in common-law cases.
How often courts cite the cases defining “suit in rem”
Court decisions citing the 2 opinions that defined “suit in rem” — 246 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 2 definitions, chronological · 1864–1872
- ORIGINAL
Suit in this case was in rem, and consequently the vessel, when arrested, was in contemplation of law in the possession of the court.