RATIFICATION
ratification,n.1. Adoption or enactment, esp. where the act is the last in a series of necessary
steps or consents <The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the
Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same>. • In this sense,
ratification runs the gamut of a formal approval of a constitutional amendment to rank-and-file
approval of a labor union’s collective-bargaining agreement with management. See
ADOPTION(5). Cf. SANCTION(1).2. Confirmation and acceptance of a previous act, thereby
making the act valid from the moment it was done <the board of directors’ ratification of the
president’s resolution>. • This sense includes action taken by the legislature to make binding a
treaty negotiated by the executive. [Cases: Estoppel 90(1). C.J.S. Estoppel §§ 68–69, 134–135.]
3.Contracts. A person’s binding adoption of an act already completed but either not done in a way
that originally produced a legal obligation or done by a third party having at the time no authority
to act as the person’s agent <an adult’s ratification of a contract signed during childhood is
necessary to make the contract enforceable>. [Cases: Contracts 97(2); Infants 57; Principal
and Agent 163–176. C.J.S. Agency §§ 63–104, 264, 447, 500, 527, 542, 549; Contracts§§ 138,
146, 156, 172, 186, 188; Infants §§ 167, 179.]
“Ratification may take place by express words indicating an intention to confirm the contract.
These words may consist of a new express promise, or such words as ‘I do ratify and confirm.’ A
mere acknowledgment that the contract was in fact made and that it has not been performed is not
sufficient as a ratification. It is sometimes said that a ratification is ineffective unless made with
knowledge of the possession of a legal power to disaffirm, but the cases holding the contrary seem
to have the better reason.” William R. Anson, Principles of the Law of Contract 179–80 (Arthur L.
Corbin ed., 3d Am. ed. 1919).
4.Int’l law. The final establishment of consent by the parties to a treaty to be bound by it, usu.
including the exchange or deposit of instruments of ratification <the ratification of the
nuclear-weapons treaty>. See INSTRUMENT OF RATIFICATION. Cf. CONFIRMATION.
[Cases: Treaties 3. C.J.S. Treaties § 4.] — ratify,vb. — ratifiable,adj. [Blacks Law 8th]