Minor (law)
In
law, a person who is not yet a legal
adult is a minor. The terms
infant and
juvenile are also used. Minor status carries with it special restrictions, penalties, and protections that do not apply to adults. The rights and status of minors in many western countries has been compared to the state of women and racial minorities before these groups achieved equal rights. All member states of the
United Nations except the
United States and
Somalia have ratified the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Examples of special protections/restrictions for minors include
statutory rape laws, prohibitions against the use of alcohol and cigarettes, compulsory school attendance, the need for adult co-signers on legal documents (e.g.
contracts),
driver's license requirements, separate punishment and trial (e.g.
juvenile courts),
child labor laws,
curfew laws, and prohibitions against voting.
Restrictions and protections for minors are typically justified by an assumption of diminished mental capacity. Some jurisdictions allow
juvenile emancipation, whereby a minor who can demonstrate competency may take on some rights that are normally reserved for adults.
Not all age-based protections/restrictions are necessarily tied to the same transitional age. The transition from minor to adult, however, is typically defined by the age at which one may independently enter into contracts.
At the end of the
20th century most countries allowed most or all age-based transitions to occur by the age of 18. The propriety of age-based restrictions and selection of a transition age for each remains open to debate due to continued questions about age-specific decision-making capabilities.
*
age of consent*
age of majority*
marriageable age*
voting age*
age of criminal responsibility*
child soldier*
child pornography*
disseminating pornography to a minor*
youth rights
