Is the authorized signatory of the contract a legal person or an authorized person?
It is usually signed by the legal representative. If the legal representative is unable to sign for some reason, a power of attorney can be issued and signed by the authorized person. The power of attorney has the same legal effect as the signature of the legal representative.
First, the meaning of "legal person" and "legal representative" should be distinguished here. Legal person generally refers to institutions or units, such as companies are legal persons; The legal representative generally refers to the principal responsible person of an institution or unit, for example, the chairman of the company is the legal representative of the company. So the "legal person" mentioned in your question should be the "legal representative of the legal person".
Secondly, in addition, it is necessary to distinguish the concepts of "authorized person", "authorized person", "agent" and "principal". In these four words, the meaning of transferee and principal is similar, that is, the person who originally owned the right and is now exercised by others; The meaning of the authorized person is similar to that of an agent, that is, a person who originally had no rights and now accepts the entrustment of others to temporarily exercise their rights; However, the agent and the principal are legal terms, while the authorizer and the authorized person are not. So the "authorizer" you mentioned in your question should be the "agent", that is, the person who accepts the authorization.
Third, generally speaking, when signing a contract, the signature of the legal representative or one of the agents has legal effect; If two people sign at the same time, it is also legally binding.
Legal basis:
Article 13 of People's Republic of China (PRC) Company Law The legal representative of the company shall be the chairman, executive director or manager in accordance with the articles of association, and shall be registered according to law. Where the legal representative of the company changes, it shall go through the registration of change.
civil law
Article 163? The types of agency include entrusted agency and legal agency.
An entrusted agent shall exercise the power of agency as entrusted by the principal. A legal agent shall exercise his power of agency in accordance with the provisions of the law.
Article 165? If the power of attorney entrusts an agent with written authorization, the power of attorney shall specify the name, entrusted matters, authority and time limit of the agent, and shall be signed or sealed by the principal.
Brief summary:
Signature of authorized person. Who signed it? It is usually signed by the legal representative. If the legal representative is unable to sign for some reason, a power of attorney can be issued and signed by the authorized person. The power of attorney has the same legal effect as the signature of the legal representative. The signature of the legal representative or one of the agents has legal effect; If two people sign at the same time, it is also legally binding.