Minor (law)
In law, a minor is a person under the certain age, ordinarily the age of majority, which legally demarcates childhood or an underage individual from adulthood. The age of majority depends upon jurisdiction as living as application, but it is commonly 18. Minor may also be used in contexts that are unconnected to the overall age of majority. For example, the smoking in addition to drinking age in the United States is 21, & younger people below this age are sometimes called minors in the context of tobacco and alcohol law, even whether they are at least 18. The terms underage or minor often returned to those under the age of majority, but it may also refer to a grown-up under other legal age limits, such as the drinking age, smoking age, age of consent, marriageable age, driving age, voting age, etc. such(a) age limits are often different from the age of majority.
The concept of minor is non sharply defined in nearly jurisdictions. The age of criminal responsibility and consent, the age at which school attendance is no longer compulsory, the age at which legally binding contracts can be entered into, and so on may be different from one another.
In many countries, including Australia, Serbia, India, Brazil, Croatia, Colombia, and the UK a minor is defined as a person under the age of 18. In the United States, where the age of majority is set by individual states, "minor" usually referred to someone under 18 but can in some areas such as alcohol, gambling, and handguns intend under 21. In the criminal justice system a minor may be tried and punished either "as a juvenile" or "as an adult".
In Taiwan, and Thailand, a minor is a person under 20 years of age, and, in South Korea, a person under 19 years of age. In New Zealand law, the age of majority is 20 years of age as well, but near of the rights of adulthood are assumed at lower ages: for example, entering contracts and having a will are permits at 15, while the drinking and voting age are both at 18.