Transit In Rem Judicatam Law and Legal Definition
Transit in rem judicatam is a Latin maxim which says that when the cause of action is changed into matter of record, which is of a higher nature, the inferior remedy is merged in the higher.’ This principle does not apply where the judgment is foreign, since a foreign judgment is not considered to be of a higher nature than a domestic cause of action.
The principle of transit in rem judicatam relates only to the particular cause of action in which the judgment is recovered, operating as a change of remedy from its being of a higher nature than before. [Sheldon v. Kibbe, 3 Conn. 214 (Conn. 1819)]
