A Study on the Principal-Agent Relationship in English Law

• Main Authors: Chia-Yu Hsu, 許家瑜
• Other Authors: Tzu-Chiang Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/2t24z2

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 法律學研究所 === 107 === 　　Agency is a legal notion recognized in both civil law and common law systems, both of which are based on their own distinct historical influences and legal theories, a divergence that has developed considerable differences in their approach to the concept of agency. 　　The theory of agency in civil law features the conceptual separation of mandate (mandate, Aufrag), i.e., the contract between the principal and agent, from the abstract authority (représentation, Vollmacht), i.e., the power the agent has in order to enter into contracts on behalf of his principal. Yet the common law has adopted a relatively general and unitary concept of agency – “agency” can be said to represent the body of rules under which one person acts for another. Thus, the common law does not stress the existence of a mandate, the agent’s external power is simply derived from the internal relationship, which is not necessarily contractual, but can be based on an agreement. 　　Under the above explanation, in common law, the basic formation of agency is treated as being that in which one party, the principal, consents that another party, the agent, shall act on his behalf, and the agent consents so to act. This consent is said to confer authority onto the agent, enabling him to change the legal position of another. Since the agent has the special power to bind and entitle his principal, the agent is also subject to the duties imposed by equity on fiduciaries, appropriate to the powers that the agent can exercise on the principal’s behalf. 　　Having been inspired by the common law, this thesis focuses on the “principal-agent relationship” in the English Law, discussing the nature of the agency relationship and the internal and external aspects of agency, mainly investing the rights and duties of principal and agent inter se.