Erga omnes

In legal terminology, erga omnesrights or obligations are owed toward all. Erga omnes is a Latin phrase which means "towards all" or "towards everyone". For instance, a property right is an erga omnes entitlement and therefore enforceable against anybody infringing that right.

An erga omnes right can be distinguished from a right based on contract, which is unenforceable except against the contracting party.

Its first recorded use dates back to a 1956 article written by the Belgian lawyer Henri Rolin. It then became famous when it was used by the International Court of Justice in 1970, in the Barcelona Traction case.