An abbreviation of "ex relatione", Latin for "on the relation of." Information or action taken that is not based on first-hand experience but is based on the statement or account of another person. For example, a criminal charge "ex rel" means that the attorney general of a state is prosecuting on the basis of a statement of a person other than the attorney general.

Latin]. A term used in case citations to designate a party for whom another party is acting.

conj. abbreviation for Latin ex relatione, meaning "upon being related" or "upon information," used in the title of a legal proceeding filed by a state Attorney General (or the federal Department of Justice) on behalf of the government, on the instigation of a private person, who needs the state to enforce the rights of himself/herself and the public. For example, the caption would read: The State of Tennessee ex rel. Archie Johnson v. Hardy Products.