Art. 32 OR; Art. 136 bis SchKG; validity of auction award based on unauthorized bid. A debt-enforcement auction award presupposes a legally effective offer by the bidder. If the bidder purported to act for a third party, the offer binds the principal only if the representative was empowered to bid or if the principal subsequently ratifies the act. In the absence of authority and ratification, the award is voidable as lacking a civil-law basis and may be invoked by the principal without regard to the time limit of Art. 136 bis SchKG, since that provision assumes an already legally relevant offer. Debt-enforcement authorities cannot confer legal effect on a nonexistent or legally irrelevant will contrary to civil law (consid. 9).