無權代理人對善意相對人之責任

Liability of Unauthorized Agent to Bona Fide Contracting Party

An agent’s warranty of authority refers to the situation in which an agent warrants—to all who deal with him in that capacity—that he has the authority which he assumes; otherwise, the unauthorized agent is responsible for his acts in the course of his agency, leaving the legal status of his contracting party unchanged. The bona fide contracting party’s claim to the unauthorized agent is limited to the performance of the principal under the circumstances that the agent is authorized or that unauthorized acts of agents are ratified by the principal. When the principal breaches the contract, in principle, only negligence would be pursued. Why, then, does a precedent laid down by the Supreme Court in 1967 found that strict liability should be imposed upon the unauthorized agent for damages?