《民法总则》表见代理的类型化分析

Type Analyses of Agency by Estoppel in General Principles of the Civil Law

我国《民法总则》第172条延续了《合同法》第49条的规定,以概括式立法模式规定了表见代理制度,表见代理被滥用的风险依然存在。值得肯定的是,学者们试图通过增加表见代理构成要件的方式来限制其适用,特别是将被代理人的"过失"或"可归责性"作为表见代理适用的前提。然而,就我国的立法和司法现状而言,此类限定尚不足以限制表见代理的滥用。更具操作性的做法是,以私法自治为原则,在法律行为的框架下,通过限缩性解释对《民法总则》第172条的规定进行类型化,以期限制表见代理的适用,排除仅因过失而未注意到他人以自己名义实施法律行为的"被代理人"的代理法律责任,以期实现私法自治与信赖保护的最佳平衡。

Article 172 of General Principles of the Civil Law, which continues the provision of Ar- ticle 49 of the Contract Law, stipulates the agency by estoppel in the form of a generalized legislative model. So the risk of abuse of agency by estoppel is still present. It is worth noting that scholars are try- ing to limit its application by adding the prerequisite, especially the ＂negligence＂ or ＂attributable＂ of the agent. However, such limitation is not feasible to limit the abuse of agency by estoppel considering the current situation of legislation and jurisdiction in China. It is more practicable to typify the agency by estoppel by means of limiting interpretation in the framework of legal acts based on the principle of private law autonomy, in order to restrict the application of the agency by estoppel. The ＂principal＂ who fails to notice that the third person acts on his behalf due to negligence shall not be liable for the legal act, so that the balance between private autonomy and trust protection could be best achieved.