Minor (law)
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Btharper1221
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Reverted 1 edit by [[Special:Contributions/93.96.159.87|93.96.159.87]] identified as [[WP:VAND|vandalism]] to last revision by [[User:70.62.200.98|70.62.200.98]]. ([[WP:TW|TW]])
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In law, the term '''minor''' (also '''infant''' or '''infancy''') is used to refer to a person who is under the age in which one legally assumes [[adulthood]] and is legally granted rights afforded to adults in society. Depending on the jurisdiction and application, this age may vary, but is usually marked at either 18 or 21. Specifically, the status of "minor" is defined by the [[age of majority]]{{Verify source|date=July 2007}}.
In many countries, including [[Brazil]], [[Croatia]], [[India]], the [[United Kingdom]], [[Australia]], [[Canada]] and [[New Zealand]], a '''minor''' is presently defined as a person under the age of 18. In the [[United States]], where the [[age of majority]] is set by the individual states, 'minor' usually refers to someone under the age of 18, but can be used in certain areas to define someone under the age of 21.
In the [[criminal justice]] system in some places, the term "minor" is not entirely synonymous, as a minor may be [[trial (law)|tried]] for a [[crime]] (and punished) as a juvenile or an adult (usually only for extremely serious crimes such as murder).
==Usage==
The terms "[[infant]]", "[[child]]", "[[adolescence|adolescent]]", "teen", "[[youth]]", "juvenile" and "young person" are also used, although some jurisdictions make a legal distinction between these terms. Minor status carries with it special restrictions, penalties and protections that do not apply to adults. 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 restrictions imposed on 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. [[contract]]s), [[driver's license]] requirements, separate punishment and trial (e.g. [[juvenile court]]s), [[child labor]] laws, [[curfew]] laws, prohibitions against viewing certain age restricted films and prohibitions against voting. These laws are meant to protect minors from themselves, but severely restrict a minor's freedom.
Restrictions imposed on 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 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 outside of Asia 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.
The word "minor" is seen as offensive by many Youth Rights organisations such as [[National Youth Rights Association|NYRA]] because it relates to young people as though they are of lesser importance than adults. For example, comparing a 17 year old with a 2 year old.
==Australia==
In [[Australia]], there are several gradations of responsibility before full legal adulthood. Those under age ten are free of all criminal responsibility under the ''[[Conclusive presumption|doli incapax]]'' doctrine of [[UK]] legal tradition. Those under the age of fourteen are presumed incapable of responsibility, but this can be disputed in court. The age of full legal responsibility is 18 except Queensland where it is 17. The age of majority in all states and territories is 18.
The age of majority is 18 for most purposes including sitting on a jury, voting, standing as a candidate, marriage, hiring R-rated films or seeing them in a theater, buying/viewing [[hardcore pornography|pornography]] and purchasing [[alcoholic drink|alcohol]] and [[cigarettes|tobacco]] products. A person under 18 is defined as a minor or a child.
==Canada==
{{Expand|date=April 2008}}
{{main|Youth Criminal Justice Act}}
== United States ==
In the [[United States]] as of 1995, ''minor'' is legally defined as a person under the age of 18, although, in the context of [[alcoholic beverages|alcohol]], people under the age of 21 may be referred to as "minors." However, not all minors are considered "juveniles" in terms of criminal responsibility. As is frequently the case in the United States, the laws vary widely by state.
In eleven states, including [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Illinois]], [[Louisiana]], [[Massachusetts]], [[Michigan]], [[Missouri]], [[South Carolina]], and [[Texas]], a "juvenile" is legally defined as a person under seventeen. In three states, [[Connecticut]], [[New York]], and [[North Carolina]], "juvenile" refers to a person under sixteen.[http://www.ncjrs.gov/txtfiles/163813.txt] In other states a juvenile is legally defined as a person under eighteen.
Under this distinction, those considered juveniles are usually tried in [[juvenile court]], and they may be afforded other special protections. For example, in some states a parent or guardian must be present during police questioning, or their names may be kept confidential when they are accused of a crime. For many crimes (especially more violent crimes), the age at which a minor may be tried as an adult is variable below the age of 18 or (less often) below 16 [Gaines, Larry K and Roger Leroy Miller. "Criminal Justice in Action" 4th ed., Thompson Wadsworth Publishing, 2007. Pg 495]. For example, in Kentucky, the lowest age a juvenile may be tried as an adult, no matter how heinous the crime, is 14.
In most states, juveniles cannot be housed with adult inmates, even if the child is charged as an adult. This is also discouraged by the federal government, which proffers funding only if children and adults are housed in separate facilities. This leads to a lot of subsidiary questions such as whether a juvenile now past their eighteenth birthday can be sentenced to adult jail for a conviction based on behavior that happened before that birthday. As with the adult system, the juvenile justice system has become more and more punitive over time,{{Fact|date=January 2008}} despite a juvenile's lack of right to a jury in juvenile court, often lower brain development (because of their youth), and evidence that incarceration and even probation lead to a higher incidence of reoffending for juveniles than non-punitive consequences.{{Fact|date=January 2008}}
The death penalty in the U.S. for those that committed a crime while under the age of 18 was discontinued by the U.S. Supreme Court Case ''Roper v. Simmons'' in 2005. The court's 5-4 decision was written by Justice Kennedy and joined by Justices Ginsburg, Stevens, Breyer, and Souter, and cited international law, as well as child developmental science and many other factors in reaching its conclusion.
The [[age of consent]] for sexual activity is often lower than the age of majority, frequently using a graduated scale based on the difference in age between the participants. There is an absolute minimum age, however, varying from state to state, below which a minor may not consent. The lowest age for a legal marriage also varies by state.
The twenty-sixth amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1971, granted all citizens 18 years of age or older the right to vote in every state, in every election.
{{main|Minors detained in the global war on terror}}
The [[US Department of Defense]] took the position that they would not consider the "[[enemy combatant]]s" they held in [[extrajudicial]] detention in the [[Guantanamo Bay detainment camp]]s to be minors unless they were less than sixteen years old.{{Verify source|date=July 2007}} In the event they only separated three of the more than a dozen detainees who were under 16 from the adult prison population. And all the several dozen detainees who were between sixteen and eighteen years of age were detained with the adult prison population. Now those under 18 are kept separate in line with the age of majority and world expectations.
Some states, including [[Florida]], have passed laws allowing one who commits an extremely heinous crime, such as [[murder]], to be tried as an adult, regardless of age. These laws, however, have faced the challenges of the [[ACLU]]
==United Kingdom==
{{see|Law of England and Wales|Law of Northern Ireland|Law of Scotland}}
In [[England]], [[Wales]] and [[Northern Ireland]] a minor is a person under the age of 18; in [[Scotland]], under the age of 16. The [[age of criminal responsibility]] in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 10; and 8 in Scotland.
In England and Wales, cases of [[Young offender|minors breaking the law]] are often dealt with by the [[Youth Offending Team]]. If they are [[incarcerated]], they will be sent to a [[youth detention center]].
The age of majority is 18 for most purposes including sitting on a jury, voting, standing as a candidate, marriage, hiring films with an [[18 certificate]] or seeing them in a theater, buying/viewing and modelling for pornography and purchasing alcohol, tobacco products and fireworks.
==See also==
* [[Age of consent]]
* [[Age of criminal responsibility]]
* [[Age of majority]]
* [[Boy]]
* [[Girl]]
* [[Disseminating pornography to a minor]]
* [[Marriageable age]]
* [[Voting age]]
* [[Youth rights]]
* [[Ephebiphobia]]
* [[Adultism]]
==External links==
* [http://www.aic.gov.au/research/jjustice/definition.html Legal Definition of Juvenile - Australia]
[[Category:Childhood]]
[[Category:Juvenile law]]
[[Category:Ageism]]
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