Representation in international commerce: concept, specific features, legal regulation

Abstract

The institution of representation in different legal systems has a noticeable specificity. There are differences in the classification, terminology, contract structures used as the basis for the emergence of relations of representation, forms of authorization of the agent, the consequences of actions of an unauthorized agent, issues of entry of the principal and a third person into direct relations with each other, etc. Since the services of agents are in demand in cross-border trade, the international community (states, scientists, associations of entrepreneurs) attempts to overcome the uncertainties and conflicts that arise in the case of the cross-border nature of these relations in their regulation by national legal sources by unifying the substantive legal norms on the relations of the agent and the principal, as well as on the relations of these persons with a third party. In order to solve the problem of forming a common, uniform approach to the legal regulation of relations of representation in international commerce, the article formulates its universal concept, which includes the main features of the regulation of internal and external relations within its framework, inherent in various national legal systems, international conventions and non-national sources of law, the practice of cross-border commerce; identifies specific features that characterize representation in international commerce; shows the features of its unified legal regulation.