# 民法 / Civil Code — 第百十七条 (Article 117) - Law: 民法 (Civil Code), 明治二十九年法律第八十九号 - English title "Civil Code": Ministry of Justice translation - Kind: Act — the distinction between 法律 (Act), 政令 (Cabinet Order), 省令 (Ministerial Order) and 条例 (local ordinance) decides who may issue it and what it may say. - Provision: 第百十七条 (Article 117)（無権代理人の責任） — address `art-117` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-117 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-117 - Every provision below carries its address and both URLs on the line under it. - Japanese text: e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁). English: as marked on each line below. Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect; the text below is a copy of it. Every English rendering below is a translation and says which kind: the Ministry of Justice's translation, or this site's machine translation, whose model and date the Sources list names. They are never merged and never substituted for one another. --- ### 第百十七条（無権代理人の責任） — (Liability of Unauthorized Agency) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-117 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-117 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-117 **第一項** 他人の代理人として契約をした者は、自己の代理権を証明したとき、又は本人の追認を得たときを除き、相手方の選択に従い、相手方に対して履行又は損害賠償の責任を負う。 art-117/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-117/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-117/par-1 A person who concludes a contract as an agent of another person is liable to the counterparty for the performance of the contract or damages, as chosen by the counterparty, unless the person proves their authority to represent or the principal ratifies the contract. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 前項の規定は、次に掲げる場合には、適用しない。 art-117/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-117/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-117/par-2 The provisions of the preceding paragraph do not apply in the following cases: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **一** 他人の代理人として契約をした者が代理権を有しないことを相手方が知っていたとき。 art-117/par-2/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-117/par-2/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-117/par-2/item-1 if the counterparty knew that the person who concluded the contract as an agent of the other person had no authority to represent; Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **二** 他人の代理人として契約をした者が代理権を有しないことを相手方が過失によって知らなかったとき。ただし、他人の代理人として契約をした者が自己に代理権がないことを知っていたときは、この限りでない。 art-117/par-2/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-117/par-2/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-117/par-2/item-2 if the counterparty was negligent in not knowing that the person who concluded the contract as an agent of the other person had no authority to represent; provided, however, that this does not apply if the person who concluded a contract as an agent of the other person knew themselves to have no authority to represent; or Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **三** 他人の代理人として契約をした者が行為能力の制限を受けていたとき。 art-117/par-2/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-117/par-2/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-117/par-2/item-3 if the legal capacity to act of the person who concluded the contract as an agent of the other person was subject to restrictions. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-117/par-2: 前項 → 民法 第百十七条第一項 (Article 117, paragraph (1)), art-117/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-117/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-117/par-1 ## Cited by 3 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 民法 第百十七条第二項（無権代理人の責任） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-117/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-117/par-2 - 民法 第百十八条第一項（単独行為の無権代理） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-118/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-118/par-1 - 民法 附則第七条第二項（代理に関する経過措置） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/suppl-4291-44/art-7/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/suppl-4291-44/art-7/par-2 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 民法 — the text in force from 2026-06-24 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/129AC0000000089/20260624_508AC0000000045), retrieved 2026-10-11 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Civil Code — Ministry of Justice translation (part 1 of 2) (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4848/tb), retrieved 2026-10-11 - This site's parser, version 190 — 民法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-11