contract law A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to t ...

and

administrative law Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are generally referred to as " regulations"), ...

, delegation (Latin ''intercessio'') is the act of giving another person the responsibility of carrying out the performance agreed to in a contract. Three parties are concerned with this act - the party who had incurred the obligation to perform under the contract is called the ''delegator''; the party who assumes the responsibility of performing this duty is called the ''delegatee''; and the party to whom this performance is owed is called the ''obligee''.

Contract law

Delegable contracts

A delegation will be null and void if it poses any threat to the commercially reasonable expectations of the obligee. For example, a task requiring specialized skills or based on the unique characteristics of the promisee can not be delegated. If a specific celebrity was hired to make a speech, they could not delegate the task to another person, even if the other person would give the same speech, word for word. However, a delegation of performance that does not pose such a threat will be held to be valid. In such a case, the obligee will be under an affirmative duty to cooperate with the delegatee to the extent necessary for the fulfillment of the delegator's obligations

Breach of a delegated contract

If the delegatee fails to perform satisfactorily, the obligee may elect to treat this failure as a breach of the original contract by the delegator ''or'' may assert himself as a

third party beneficiary A third-party beneficiary, in the law of contracts, is a person who may have the right to sue on a contract, despite not having originally been an active party to the contract. This right, known as a ''ius quaesitum tertio'', arises when the thir ...

of the contract between the delegator and the delegatee, and can claim all remedies due to a third party beneficiary. If the delegation is without

consideration Consideration is a concept of English common law and is a necessity for simple contracts but not for special contracts (contracts by deed). The concept has been adopted by other common law jurisdictions. The court in '' Currie v Misa'' declar ...

, the delegator remains liable for nonperformance, while the delegatee will not be liable to anyone for anything. Unlike an assignment, a delegation is virtually always for consideration, and never donative - few people are going to accept the charitable offer to perform a task contracted to someone else.

Compare: assignment

A parallel concept to delegation is

assignment Assignment, assign or The Assignment may refer to: * Homework * Sex assignment * The process of sending National Basketball Association players to its development league; see Computing * Assignment (computer science), a type of modification to ...

, which occurs when one party transfers his present rights to receive the benefits accruing to the assignor under that contract. A delegation and an assignment can be accomplished at the same time, although the right to sue for nonpayment always stays with delegator. Under the

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...

, a contract clause prohibiting assignment also prohibits delegation. Another common law rule requires that a party to a contract can not delegate performance that involves special skills or reputation (although it is possible to have a

novation Novation, in contract law and business law, is the act of – # replacing an obligation to perform with another obligation; or # adding an obligation to perform; or # replacing a party to an agreement with a new party. In international law, no ...

under such circumstances).

Administrative law

Administrative Law Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are generally referred to as " regulations"), ...

(the law that controls government action and decisions) a delegation is the process of handing some administrative action or decision to a subordinate. It is achieved through two mechanisms: # Where a

statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by ...

Delegated legislation Primary legislation and secondary legislation (the latter also called delegated legislation or subordinate legislation) are two forms of law, created respectively by the legislative and executive branches of governments in representative democ ...

appoints an "authorized person" to manage the power for a minister or

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

. Here the delegate acts in their own name, and the delegation is a position that does not cease with the appointment of a new delegate. # In some circumstances a person in whom some power is vested can authorize another person to exercise that power on their behalf. Carltona v Commissioners of Works 9432 All ER 560. Here the underling is appointed to act as if they were the authorized person, usually for the ''Administrative necessity'' of managing huge work loads in a government department. Here the delegate acts in person of the authorized person rather than in their own name, and the delegator can still exercise the powers as necessaryHuth v Clarke (1890) 25 QBD 391 at 395 per Wills J. even though much of the day-to-day operations are enacted by subordinates. Concerns often arise when law-making powers are delegated to agencies in administrative law because of agency heads are not elected by the people. However, there are many times when delegating law-making authority to an agency is appropriate, especially when the legislature lacks the capacity or expertise to handle a randomly evolving issue that affects multiple jurisdictions

References

External links

Intercessio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delegation (Law) Contract law Administrative law