flag state of the vessel. This is determined by the admiralty law of the countries involved and in international agreements. History in English and U.S. law The concept of personal jurisdiction in English law has its origin in the idea that a monarch could not exercise power over persons or property located outside of his or her kingdom. To some degree, this was a de facto rule; the monarch's men could not arrest people or seize property outside the kingdom without risking physical conflict with the soldiers and police of other kingdoms. Slowly this principle was incorporated into written law, but problems arose in cases where property owners could not be sued because they had left the kingdom or had died and therefore were not present within the kingdom at the time they were being sued. To solve this problem, the courts created another type of jurisdiction, called quasi in rem, that is, jurisdiction over the land itself, even if the person who owned the land was not in the country. However, this jurisdiction was limited to the settlement of debts owed by the owner of the land. In the United States, the exercise of personal jurisdiction by a court must both comply with Constitutional limitations, and be authorized by a statute. In the United Kingdom, the exercise of personal jurisdiction does not need a statutory basis, since the United Kingdom does not have a written constitution. United States The intersection of American federalism and the rules and theories of jurisdiction inherited from the common law of England has resulted in a highly complex body of law respecting personal jurisdiction in the United States. These rules limit both state and federal courts in their ability to hear cases. Principles of personal jurisdiction Three fundamentals of personal jurisdiction constrain the ability of courts in the United States to bind individuals or property to its decisions: consent, power, and notice. Consent The United States legal system is an adversarial system. Civil suits cannot be initiated by third parties, but must be filed by the aggrieved party who seeks redress. Generally, the action is initiated in the jurisdiction where the event occurred, where the defendant can be served or where the parties have agreed to have the case located. The filing of a complaint or prayer for relief is a voluntary action by the person aggrieved, and as a necessity of this request,