French Civil Code

A mandate or power of attorney is an act by which one person gives another the power to do something for and on behalf of the principal. The contract is formed only by the acceptance of the agent.

The mandate may be given by deed or by private document, even by letter. It may also be given orally, but testimonial evidence of it is received only in accordance with the title “Of contracts or conventional obligations in general”. Acceptance of the mandate may be only tacit and result from the execution given to it by the mandatary.

The mandate is free of charge if there is no agreement to the contrary.

It is either special and for a case or certain cases only, or general and for all the principal’s cases.

The mandate conceived in general terms embraces only acts of administration. If it involves alienation or hypothecation, or some other act of ownership, the mandate must be express.

The agent cannot do anything beyond what is carried in his mandate: the power to compromise does not contain the power to compromise.

An unemancipated minor may be chosen as a mandatary; but the principal will have action against him only according to the general rules relating to the obligations of minors.