First Principles of Business Law

10. Agency by operation of law

10.1. Circumstances in which representation is allowed by law

In most situations of agency, the agent acquires their power of represestation from the principal. This is the case when a principal gives an agent an express or implied authority to act on the principal's behalf. We have also seen that a principal may behave in a way that gives an agent an apparent (ostensible) authority.

But these are not the only ways in which an agent can acquire a power of representation. There are special circumstances in which authority to act on another person's behalf arises by operation of law, in situations of emergency.

It is important to realise that not every emergency situation gives rise to agency - there are only a few recognised cases. The examples in this section illustrate when an emergency situation may allow one person to act as an agent for another.