Ratification

Abstract This chapter examines the doctrine of ratification that is concerned with acts performed without authority by an agent in the name of a principal. It considers ratification as a species of election by which the supposed principal for whom the supposed agent did not have authority chooses between disavowing the transaction and ratifying it. It also discusses how an undisclosed agency is seen to be anomalous because it was never the third party’s intention to contract with the principal. The chapter considers ratification as a unilateral act of will wherein there is no requirement that the principal notify the agent that the ratification has taken place. It mentions the powers of attorney that incorporate ‘ratification clauses’ under which the donor agrees to ratify in advance various acts that the donee of the power may perform.