Minority

Minority is the state of incomplete development, which, due to its inherent characteristics, serves as the basis for issuing special norms protecting the interests of persons in this age group. Changes in age are accompanied by changes in the morphological, physiological, and intellectual properties of a person. Although these changes depend to a large extent on climatic and geographical conditions of the country, on social conditions, upbringing, environment, living conditions, and individual peculiarities, nevertheless, certain age groups are characterized by more or less definite traits. Therefore, age has long been a conditional criterion for characterizing a certain level of development. Roman law, based on Hippocrates' theory of age periods, according to which the material elements of the human body change every 7 years, distinguished three age periods: 1) infantes - children under 7 years, absolutely unaccountable; 2) impuberes - from 7 to 14 years for males or 12 years for females, the age of conditional accountability; 3) minores - minors under 18 years (sometimes up to 25 years), who were considered accountable but subjected to milder punishments. These provisions basically entered into subsequent European legislation. Children aged 7-14 (the age of conditional accountability) were considered not subject to responsibility at all only for certain types of crimes; regarding other offenses, it was necessary each time to decide whether the minor had the conditions for accountability at the time of committing the criminal act. There are known cases when children aged 13, 10, 9, and 8 were sentenced to death. In the USA in 1853, a 10-year-old child was hanged. In modern times, the period of absolute unaccountability is being extended further. Thus, in England since 1879, the period of absolute unaccountability was considered up to 12 years, and since 1908 - up to 14 years. In Germany, the age limit for criminal irresponsibility has been raised since 1923 to 14 years. The same is true in other countries. In addition, there is a tendency to create special courts for minors and institutions (reformatories) where minors are sent instead of imprisonment. Under pre-revolutionary Russian law since 1897, a distinction was made between the age up to 10 years, absolutely unaccountable, and the age from 10 years - of conditional accountability, involving mitigated punishment. Under the laws of the RSFSR, undoubtedly more perfect, "for minors" under 14 years, only medico-pedagogical measures are applied. For minors from 14 to 16 years, measures of social protection of a judicial-executive nature may be applied only in cases where the Commission for Affairs of Minors ("Regulations on the Central Commission for Affairs of Minors", approved by the SNK on 22/V 1925) recognizes it impossible to apply medico-pedagogical measures of social protection to them (Art. 12 of the Criminal Code). "When assigning a minor imprisonment or forced labor, the term of such shall be subject to mandatory reduction for minors from 14 to 16 years by half, and for minors from 16 to 18 years - by one third compared to the term that would be determined by the court for committing a crime if committed by an adult, and the term of the social protection measure assigned by the court in any case should not exceed half of the maximum term established by this Code for the given crime" (Art. 50 of the Criminal Code).-"Persons who have not reached the age of eighteen at the time of committing the crime cannot be sentenced to death" (Art. 22 of the Criminal Code). Commissions for Affairs of Minors deal with cases of offenders who have not reached the age of 16 at the time of committing the offense. Children under 8 years are not summoned to the commission meeting. Those over 8 years are summoned to the commission meeting, except in cases when the commission's materials are sufficiently complete to judge the personality of the minor, when there is no composition of an offense in the minor's actions, when there is reason to believe that the minor's appearance at the commission may adversely affect his physical and mental condition. Medico-pedagogical measures consist, for example, in granting allowances, placing in another family, placing under public patronage, in institutions of social upbringing, institutions of guardianship, etc. In our criminal legislation, there are also articles dealing with sexual crimes against minors, in particular about their corruption (Art. 152 of the Criminal Code). In the field of civil law, persons under 18 years do not enjoy active and passive voting rights. With minority in the field of civil law are connected other more or less important consequences (see Marriage, Alimony).- The peculiarities of this age group are also provided for in the Code of Labor Laws. Persons under 18 years are not subject to labor service (Art. 12 of the Criminal Code). The duration of working time cannot exceed six hours for persons aged 16 to 18 years. The age of minors is determined on the basis of extracts from books of records of civil status acts and other official documents. In the absence or dispute of these documents, the age of minors is established by medical examination in accordance with Art. 141 of the Criminal Code.

3. Morgenstern.