Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1903
Abstract
Omnis ratihabitio retrotrahitur, et mandato priori aequiparatur. Every ratification relates back, and is equivalent to a prior authority, is the second great maxim of agency, and has been said to be as well established and as simple of application as the first and fundamental one, qui facit per alium, facit per se. It was as well recognized in the Roman law, as it is in the common law. Whether the maxim ratihabitio mandato comparatur of the Roman lawyers and the early English cases is identical in meaning with the dogma ratihabitio mandato acquiparatur of Lord Coke, and of all English cases since, may admit of question.1 Although both aequiparatur and comparatur are susceptible of meaning "to be placed on an equality," it seems clear that the former is a much stronger word, suggesting a complete equivalence, while the latter suggests rather a comparison based on a close likeness.
Recommended Citation
Goddard, Edwin C. "Ratification by an Undisclosed Principal." Mich. L. Rev. 2 (1903): 25-45.