The types of judicial jurisdiction

Every valid exercise of judicial jurisdiction, as here defined, affects the interests of persons. It is possible, however, to affect the interests of persons in different ways. And the bases of judicial jurisdiction that a state must have in order to affect a person's interests in one way may be different from those required to permit the state to affect these interests in another way. To some extent these differences are reflected in the traditional differentiation between: (1) personal jurisdiction, (2) jurisdiction in rem and (3) jurisdiction quasi in rem.

(a) Personal jurisdiction. A state must have personal jurisdiction over a defendant in order to impose upon him through its courts a personal liability or obligation in favor of the plaintiff. A common example of such a personal obligation is a judgment rendered in an action to recover a debt or damages for a breach of contract or for a tort, which imposes upon the defendant an obligation to pay a sum of money to the plaintiff. This judgment may be enforced by the seizure by a public officer of any property of the defendant in the state which is then owned or thereafter acquired by him and which is subject to execution. Such a judgment, moreover, makes the defendant a debtor to the plaintiff for the amount of the judgment, and an action to recover this debt may be maintained by the plaintiff against the defendant either in the same state or in another state.

If a state has personal jurisdiction over the defendant, it may likewise render a judgment through its courts which directs him either to do an act other than pay money to the plaintiff or to refrain from doing an act. Judgments of this sort are commonly rendered in equitable proceedings. They may be enforced by punishing the defendant for contempt of court if he refuses or neglects to obey the order of the court, or the defendant's property may be seized by an officer of the court.

The bases for the exercise of personal jurisdiction are considered in ... this Chapter. Where such a basis exists, the state is said to have jurisdiction in personam, and the proceeding is said to be a proceeding in personam.

(b) Jurisdiction in rem. Sometimes the purpose of an action is not to impose a personal liability or obligation upon anyone but to affect the interests of all persons in a thing. If so, the state may render through its courts a valid judgment where it has jurisdiction over the thing even though it may not have personal jurisdiction over the persons whose interests are affected. In such a case the state is said to have jurisdiction in rem and the proceeding is said to be a proceeding in rem. One example is a judgment rendered by a court of admiralty affecting the interests of all persons in a vessel which is subject to the jurisdiction of the state. Another example is a statutory proceeding brought to register title to certain land and which is designed to affect the interests of all persons in the land. A third example is a statutory proceeding for the forfeiture to the government and the extinguishment of the interests of all persons in a thing used in violation of the revenue or other laws. The bases for the exercise of jurisdiction in rem are considered in ...this Chapter.

(c) Jurisdiction quasi in rem. The purpose of an action may not be to impose a personal liability or obligation upon anyone and not to affect the interests of all persons in a thing, but to affect the interests of particular persons in a thing. If so, the state may render through its courts a valid judgment when it has jurisdiction over the thing even though it may not have personal jurisdiction over the persons whose interests are affected. In such a case the state is said to have jurisdiction quasi in rem and the proceeding is said to be a proceeding quasi in rem.

A judgment quasi in rem, like a judgment in rem, affects interests in a thing; but unlike a judgment in rem it affects the interests of only particular persons in the thing and not the interests of all persons in the thing. It differs from a personal judgment in that it does not impose a personal liability or obligation upon anyone. The bases for the exercise of jurisdiction quasi in rem are considered in ... this Chapter.

There are two types of proceedings quasi in rem. In both of them the jurisdiction of the state is based on power over the thing and the effect of the judgment is to affect interests of particular persons in the thing.

In the first type the plaintiff is seeking to establish a pre-existing interest in the thing and to extinguish, or to establish the non-existence of, interests of particular persons in the thing. Of this type are actions for the partition of land, actions to quiet title and actions for the foreclosure of a mortgage where the state has no jurisdiction over the person of the defendant but does have jurisdiction over the land.

In the second type the plaintiff is not seeking to establish a pre-existing interest in the thing but is seeking to enforce a personal claim against the defendant by applying the thing to the satisfaction of the claim. Of this type are actions to recover damages for breach of contract or for tort begun by attachment or garnishment or creditors' bill, where the state has no jurisdiction over the person of the defendant but has jurisdiction over a thing belonging to the defendant or over a person who is in possession of a thing belonging to the defendant or is indebted or under a duty to the defendant.