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Also known as: agency law, agent
Written by
Wolfram Müller-Freienfels
Fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Article History
Hugo Grotius
See all media
- Related Topics:
- respondeat superior
- power of attorney
- commission agent
- attornatus
- ballivus
See all related content →
agency, in law, the relationship that exists when one person or party (the principal) engages another (the agent) to act for him—e.g., to do his work, to sell his goods, to manage his business. The law of agency thus governs the legal relationship in which the agent deals with a third party on behalf of the principal. The competent agent is legally capable of acting for this principal vis-à-vis the third party. Hence, the process of concluding a contract through an agent involves a twofold relationship. On the one hand, the law of agency is concerned with the external business relations of an economic unit and with the powers of the various representatives to affect the legal position of the principal. On the other hand, it rules the internal relationship between principal and agent as well, thereby imposing certain duties on the representative (diligence, accounting, good faith, etc.). The two relationships need not be in full conformity. Thus, an agent’s effective powers in dealing with outsiders may extend to transactions that he is under a duty to his principal not to undertake, leading to a situation characterized as “apparent authority.”
Agency is recognized in all modern legal systems as an indispensable part of the existing social order. It fulfills the most diverse functions in both public and private law; in particular, it assists in organizing the division of labour in the national and international economy by making it possible for a principal greatly to extend his individual sphere of activity by having one or more persons act for him. In addition to the individual principal, a principal may be composed of a group of persons carrying on a trade or business by way of a partnership, a registered company, or another kind of corporate entity. The need for legal representation in some form has therefore increased as business units have come to involve transactions conducted at a distance (through the use of factors, or commercial agents) or have grown in size (as in the case of the firm, the house, and the corporation). Continental law additionally allows the use of legal representatives, such as the father, mother, guardian, or curator (curateur, tuteur), to enable minors, insane persons, and other legally incapacitated persons to act. Although a similar category of “authority by law” is not unknown in common law, powers based on family relationships are scarce and appear in only a few cases.
Historical development
Roman law
Because concepts grow primarily out of specific situations that have occurred and social needs that have arisen, the doctrine of legal representation developed differently in different times and places, sometimes even within a single legal system. At first it seemed unthinkable that an agent, by making a contract with a third party, could create obligatory rights and duties between a third party and a principal. Even the official law of the Roman Empire never fully recognized the principle of representation. The explanation for this rejection lies mainly in the early Roman conception of a contractual obligation as a personal relationship binding the parties in some quasi-mystical way. This type of relationship allowed creditors in some instances to seize the possessions—and in very early times also the person—of the debtor. Usually the formation of such a relationship between two parties took place in a solemn ceremony at which both parties had to be present, certain formal words spoken, and definite acts performed. In such a situation it was impossible to confer right or duties on a third party. On the other hand, the head of the household could transact business through his slaves or his dependent sons, who were not conceived of as agents but as “long arm” extensions of the contracting master or father. Because of the wide prevalence of slavery, there was no great need for a true agency relationship. As Roman law later developed, the formalities connected with creating legal relationships became less important, and the need for personal representation in commerce increased. In the meantime, however, legal theory and practice had developed so many ways to evade the problem that there was no longer an urgent need for Roman law to overcome its stark conservatism and to develop a legal institution that it had earlier opposed.
Medieval influence of canon law and Germanic law
Labouring under the influence of Roman law, legal development in the Middle Ages strove to overcome disadvantages in daily commercial life caused by the Roman rejection of the principle of agency. Through the efforts of legal scholars (glossators and commentators), Roman law was further developed by means of extensions, emphases, and exceptions—a process already sanctioned by the Romans themselves. Additional impetus for change came from Roman Catholic Church canon law. Although manifestly structured after Roman civil law, canon law had its own special development, influenced by Hebraic theological concepts. Certain writers succeeded as early as 1200 in constructing a type of agency relationship based on the position of procurator, a relationship intended to solve the representation problem in all except legal matters. The issue nevertheless remained in dispute.
About this time, the doctrine of principal and agent developed in England as an outgrowth or expansion of the doctrine of master and servant. Anglo-Norman law created the figures of ballivus and attornatus. His position in the household of his master empowered the ballivus to transact commercial business for his master, reminiscent of the power of the slave to bind his master under Roman law. Later the ballivus was given more authority, especially in his frequent role as land administrator, gradually becoming competent to act independently for his master. On the other hand, the attornatus, originally just a representative of one of the parties in litigation, soon assumed a position of broader importance. Certain contracts were effective only when made in a judicially prescribed manner. For this reason, the formation of this type of contract always had to be concluded in a court proceeding in which an attornatus represented each party. This was the beginning of the role of the attornatus as a general agent.
