The Comissionist
By Lic. Rodrigo José
Pastor Peralta
Abogado
rpastorp@abogados.or.cr

In Costa Rica as in most of the world, he who dedicates his or her professional life to perform deeds on other people’s behalf is called a commissionist.

The commissionist can work in his own name or in the name of someone else. The difference lies in the responsibility in business ventures.

Working in be­half of someone el­se but in their own name, the third party does not incur in any obligation nor does the third party obtain any rights from the commissioner, responsibility for any deal lies solely on the commissionist. A different scenario happens when the commissionist works in the name of the commissioner.

When this happens the third party does obtain rights and obligations as to the commissioner relieving the commissionist of any responsability.

Costa Rican law entitles the comissionist as an auxiliary of commerce. Which submits him or her to mercantile legislation. As such, there are certain legal guidelines that are worth discussing to define responsibilities and duties. It must be remembered that in the business world, most of the trouble arises when a deal either does not happen or goes bad. This is why being able to determine responsibility is crucial.

First of all it is important to keep in mind that a commission can be petitioned in writing or verbally, so even if there is nothing in writing, this does not mean that the commission did not take place.
In fact when a person asks a known commissionist to perform a certain task, it is presumed that the relationship exists and that the commissionist has accepted the task. It also goes almost unsaid that the commissionist must perform the commissioners instructions.

Nevertheless, the point at which the law achieves great relevance is when money is involved. Who pays for expenses for deals to go through is the question. The answer is very simple, the commissioner, but the commissionist must use any money given to complete the instructions given, for if he or she uses expenses for any other reason then the commissionist must return the money with interest and is responsible for damages, not to mention liable to be accused with a felony.

It may also occur that the commissionist must store merchandise property of the commissioner. In this case the commissionist assumes responsibility for the storage of the merchandise.

For his work the commissionist receives payment of his expenses and agreed commission.

The use of the commissionist is very common in Costa Rica especially for making deals when a person travels a lot, which is quite alright, although knowing a little about this persons rights and responsibilities is also convenient.