delegation
    n 1: a group of representatives or delegates [syn: deputation,
         commission, delegation, delegacy, mission]
    2: authorizing subordinates to make certain decisions [syn:
       delegating, delegation, relegating, relegation,
       deputation]

Delegation \Del`e*ga"tion\, n. [L. delegatio: cf. F.
   d['e]l['e]gation.]
   1. The act of delegating, or investing with authority to act
      for another; the appointment of a delegate or delegates.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. One or more persons appointed or chosen, and commissioned
      to represent others, as in a convention, in Congress,
      etc.; the collective body of delegates; as, the delegation
      from Massachusetts; a deputation.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Rom. Law) A kind of novation by which a debtor, to be
      liberated from his creditor, gives him a third person, who
      becomes obliged in his stead to the creditor, or to the
      person appointed by him. --Pothier.
      [1913 Webster]

DELEGATION, contracts. The transfer of authority from one or more persons to 
one or more others. 
     2. In general, all persons sui juris may delegate to another authority 
to act for them, but to this rule there are exceptions; 1st. On account of 
the thing to be done; and 2d. Because the act is of a personal nature, and 
incapable of being delegated. 1. The thing to be done must be lawful; for an 
authority to do a thing unlawful, is absolutely void. 5 Co. 80. 2. 
Sometimes, when the thing to be done is lawful, it must be performed by the 
person obligated himself. Com. Dig. Attorney, C 3; Story, on Ag. Sec. 12. 
     3. When a bare power or authority has been given to another, the latter 
cannot in general delegate that authority or any part of it to a third 
person, for the obvious reason that the principal relied upon the 
intelligence, skill and ability of his agent, and he cannot have the same 
confidence in a stranger. Bac. Ab. Authority, D; Com. Dig. Authority, C 3; 
12. Mass. 241; 4 Mass. 597; 1 Roll. Ab. Authority, C 1, 15; 4 Camp. 183; 2 
M. & Selw. 298, 301; 6 Taunt. 146; 2 Inst. 507. 
     4. To this general rule that one appointed as agent, trustee, and the 
like, cannot delegate his authority, there are exceptions: 1. When the agent 
is expressly authorized to make a substitution. 1 Liverm. on Ag. 54. 2. When 
the authority is implied, as in the following: cases: 1st. When by the laws 
such power is indispensable in order to accomplish the end proposed, as, for 
example, when goods are directed to be sold at auction, and the laws forbid 
such sales except by licensed auctioneers. 6 S. & R. 386. 2d. When the 
employment of such substitute is in the ordinary course of trade, as where 
it is the custom of trade to employ a ship broker or other agent for the 
purpose of procuring freight and the like. 2 M. & S. 301; 3 John. Ch. R. 
167, 178; 6 S. & R. 386. 3d. When it is understood by the parties to be the 
mode in which the particular thing would be done. 9 Ves. 234; 3 Chit. Com 
Law, 206. 4th. When the powers thus delegated are merely mechanical in their 
nature. 1 Hill, (N. Y.) R. 501 Bunb. 166; Sugd. on Pow. 176. 
     5. As to the form of the delegation, it may be for general purposes, by 
a verbal or by a written declaration not under seal, or by acts and 
implications. 3 Chit. Com. Law, 5, 194, 195; 7 T. R. 350. But when the act 
to be done must be under seal, the delegation must also be under seal. Co. 
Litt. 48 b; 5 Binn. 613; 14 S. & R. 331 See Authority. 

DELEGATION, civil law. It is a kind of novation, (q.v.) by which the 
original debtor, in order to be liberated from his creditor, gives him a 
third person, who becomes obliged in his stead to the creditor, or to the 
person appointed by him. 
     2. It results from this definition that a delegation is made by the 
concurrence of three parties, and that there may be a fourth. There must be 
a concurrence, 1. Of the party delegating, that is, the ancient debtor, who 
procures another debtor in his stead. 2. Of the party delegated, who enters 
into the obligation in the place of the ancient debtor, either to the 
creditor of to some other person appointed by him. 3. Of the creditor, who, 
in consequence of the obligation contracted by the party delegated, 
discharges the party delegating. Sometimes there intervenes a fourth party 
namely, the person indicated by the creditor in whose favor the person 
delegated becomes obliged, upon the indication of the creditor, and by the 
order of the person delegating. Poth. Ob. part. 3, c. 2, art. 6. See Louis. 
Code, 2188, 2189; 3 Wend. 66; 5 N. H. Rep. 410; 20 John. R. 76; 1 Wend. 164; 
14 Wend. 116; 11 Serg. & Rawle, 179. 
     3. Delegation is either perfect or imperfect. It is perfect, When the 
debtor who makes the delegation, is discharged by the creditor. It is 
imperfect when the creditor retains his rights against the original debtor. 
2 Duverg. n. 169. See Novation. 

DELEGATION, legislation. It signifies the whole number of the persons who 
represent a district, a state, and the like, in a deliberative assembly; as, 
the delegation from Ohio, the delegation from the city of Philadelphia. 

DELEGATION, n.  In American politics, an article of merchandise that
comes in sets.