Procuration
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Procuration () is the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency. The word is applied to the authority or power delegated to a
procurator Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to: * Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency * Procurator (Ancient Rome), the title of var ...
, or agent, as well as to the exercise of such authority expressed frequently by procuration (per procurationem), or shortly ''per pro.'', or simply ''p.p.''


Etymology, history, and usage

The correct usage is the subject of some debate. It has been understood as both "through the agency of" and "on behalf of". The reason for this is that the meaning of the phrase ''per procurationem'' is ambiguous if used with undeclinable English names. Procuratio is related to the words "pro" (for/on behalf of/instead of) and "cura" (care/attention). It is thus close in meaning to "agency" — acting instead of someone. The phrase 'per procurationem' thus means "by/through agency". Note that the phrase does not contain a preposition "of". This is because this idea would be expressed through the genitive case in Latin. With time, Latin or Latinized names fell out of usage, and the genitive case of the agent's name (in English "of Mr X") was thus lost. The original would look like this: ::Praeses ::per procurationem Secretarii or ::Michael Angelo Baltazar Senior ::per procurationem Josephi Bloggi Junioris (by agency of Joe Bloggs Jr.) This seems to be the most simple and logical reading. The other option is that "per procurationem" could be understood as a complete adverbial phrase in itself — "by the agency f another/nowiki>", without a dependent genitive. However, this would mean that two people signed the letter, one in his own person, one "by the agency of another" (without that other being expressly indicated).


Business usage

A common usage of ''per procurationem'' in the English-speaking world occurs in business letters, which are often signed on behalf of another person. For example, given a secretary authorized to sign a letter on behalf of the president of a company, the signature takes the form: ::p.p. ''Secretary's Signature'' ::President's Name or ::President's Name ::p.p. ''Secretary's Signature'' Commonly in practice, an alternative form is used: ::''Secretary's Signature'' ::p.p. President's Name In German-speaking countries, ppa. (per procura ) indicates that the person signing the document has special authority according to commercial law to sign documents in the name and on behalf of the company that a normal employee or representative of the company does not have.


Ecclesiastical usage

In the
ecclesiastical law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...
of the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
, procuration is the provision of necessaries for
bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
s and
archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...
s during their visitations of parochial churches in their dioceses. Procuration originally took the form of meat, drink, provender, and other accommodation, but was gradually changed to a sum of money. Procuration is an ecclesiastical due, and is therefore suable only in a spiritual court. In those dioceses where the bishops' estates have vested in the ecclesiastical commissioners, procurations are payable to the commissioners, who, however, have abandoned their collection.Phillimore, ''Ecc. Law'', 2nd ed., 1895, pp. 1051, 1060


Financial usage

Procuration is also used specifically for the negotiation of a
loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...
by an agent for his client, whether by
mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...
or otherwise, and the sum of money or commission paid for negotiating it is frequently termed the 'procuration fee'.


See also

*
Procurator (disambiguation) Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to: * Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency * Procurator (Ancient Rome), the title of var ...
* Procurator (canon law)


References

{{Authority control Legal terminology Agency law Canon law of the Church of England