Qui facit per alium facit per se

Qui facit per alium facit per se is a Latin legal term meaning, "He who acts through another does the act himself." It is a fundamental maxim of the law of agency.^[1] This is a maxim often stated in discussing the liability of employer for the act of employee."^[2]

According to this maxim, if in the nature of things the master is obliged to perform the duties by employing servants, he is responsible for their act in the same way that he is responsible for his own acts.^[3]

The maxim is a shortened form of the fuller 18th-century formulation: qui facit per alium, est perinde ac si facit per se ipsum, i.e. “whoever acts through another acts as if he were doing it himself.”

Indirectly the principle is in action or present in the duty that has been represented by the agent, so the duty performed will be seen as the performance of the agent himself.

Other Uses

The expression is also used as the motto of The Perse School (one of the top schools in the United Kingdom) where it is interpreted, somewhat poetically, as "He who does good to another does good to himself."

References

1. Stroman Motor Co. v Brown, 116 Okla 36, 243 P 133.
2. 35 Am J1st M & S § 543.
3. Annotation, 25 ALR2d 67.