Agency
Commercial Law
Agency
An agent is determined by law. Determined by the legal implications of what the person does. Must be acting for a principal cannot stand alone. (a)Agent has the legal authority to bind or incur liability for which the principal can be responsible. The primary role of an agent is to negotiate or conclude contracts on behalf of a principal. Actions are treated like that of the principal. Consent can be determined by the Court. (b)Agent is a person who is recognized by law as having the power to affect the legal rights of another person being the principal. Agency describes the relationship between the principal and the 3rd party. (c)Relationship arising from consent between principal and agent is to act within that capacity. Agency can also be seen as a fiduciary relationship. Actions of an agent can be criminal.
Case on point Gardner v Ackeroyd- case concerning the criminal liability of a master for the acts of his servant and the presumed requirement of mens rea in the statutory offences. Butcher and his assistant were charged with doing acts prepatory to the commission of an offence contrary to the statute. If the parcels had been actually sold then an offence would have been committed by both the assistant and his master. The prohibition against selling above the maximum price is absolute and had the sale been affected the master would have been guilty of the full offence it being no defence to show that the act had been done in his absence and w/o his knowledge. The similarity between agency liability and vicarious liability in tort is that the difference in tort is that you have to prove negligence under agency you prove breach of contract.(d) In agency an employer is responsible for actions of his employee and also an independent contractor in which he employs. The principal is bound by the actions of his agent provided that it is done within the powers given. Boundary is his authority. There are three types of authority deemed,
Agency
An agent is determined by law. Determined by the legal implications of what the person does. Must be acting for a principal cannot stand alone. (a)Agent has the legal authority to bind or incur liability for which the principal can be responsible. The primary role of an agent is to negotiate or conclude contracts on behalf of a principal. Actions are treated like that of the principal. Consent can be determined by the Court. (b)Agent is a person who is recognized by law as having the power to affect the legal rights of another person being the principal. Agency describes the relationship between the principal and the 3rd party. (c)Relationship arising from consent between principal and agent is to act within that capacity. Agency can also be seen as a fiduciary relationship. Actions of an agent can be criminal.
Case on point Gardner v Ackeroyd- case concerning the criminal liability of a master for the acts of his servant and the presumed requirement of mens rea in the statutory offences. Butcher and his assistant were charged with doing acts prepatory to the commission of an offence contrary to the statute. If the parcels had been actually sold then an offence would have been committed by both the assistant and his master. The prohibition against selling above the maximum price is absolute and had the sale been affected the master would have been guilty of the full offence it being no defence to show that the act had been done in his absence and w/o his knowledge. The similarity between agency liability and vicarious liability in tort is that the difference in tort is that you have to prove negligence under agency you prove breach of contract.(d) In agency an employer is responsible for actions of his employee and also an independent contractor in which he employs. The principal is bound by the actions of his agent provided that it is done within the powers given. Boundary is his authority. There are three types of authority deemed,