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Summary How age affects status and capacity
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The basic terms of the law of persons used by LLB law students, it is summarised and simple.
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CHAPTER 4 - MINORITY – HOW AGE AFFECTS STATUS AND CAPACITY.THE EFFECT OF AGE ON STATUS
• Children from birth until age seven are classified as infants.
• Children under the age of 18 are classified as minors – age of majority is 18 – this
section came into operation in July 2007
CAPACITY TO PERFORM JURISTIC ACTS
• Juristic acts are voluntary human acts which have legal consequences. Juristic
act is an act through which a person actively changes their legal positions.
• Juristic acts are regarded as ‘expressions of will’ on the part of person performing
the acts. The person concerned actively intends certain legal consequences to
result from their acts.
• Law only recognizes the capacity to perform juristic acts if the person can
understand the legal nature and legal consequences of their acts.
• There is an irrebuttable presumption in our law that infants can never understand
the legal nature and legal consequences of their acts. Infants have no capacity to
perform juristic acts which they purport to perform will be void and no legal
effect.
• Minors of seven years and older are treated differently – there is no presumption
that they can never understand the legal nature and consequences of their acts.
• The law limits the capacities of minors to perform juristic acts to protect them
against
INFANTS
• Infants have no capacity to perform juristic acts – this means infants have no
capacity to conclude contracts.
• Infants’ purports to conclude a contract the contract will be void and of no legal
effect.
• There is no contract, and the parties must be restored to same position that they
were in before the purported contract was concluded.
• Infants can acquire rights and duties if their guardian concludes a contract on
their behalf. The infant acquires rights and duties not the guardian. Guardians
need to act of the behalf of the infant.
• Infants can incur liability on the basis of unjustified enrichment even when they
act on their own behalf.
MINORS WHO ARE SEVEN YEARS AND OLDER
• Minors who are seven older have limited capacity to enter contracts, they can
validly conclude contracts without assistance if the contract confers rights and
imposes no obligations.
• Limitations on minors’ capacities to act are there to protect them from the follies
of youth and inexperience.
, THE GURADIANS ASSISTANCE
• Assisted minors incur full contractual liability, unassisted minors incur no
contractual liability.
• Guardians will be deemed to have ‘assisted’ minors if they have given informed
consent to a contract.
• The Guardian must know the material terms of the contract and the surrounding
circumstances.
• If the contract will be beneficial to minor, the guardian is obliged to provide
necessary assistance, if a guardian refuses to give consent or unable to do so,
the court may order the guardian to give necessary consent – or may itself
consent to the contract instead of guardian.
• Guardians can revoke consent if the transaction set out in the contract has not
yet taken place.
UNASSISTED CONTRACT
• The unassisted minor can’t incur binding contractual liability.
• Limping contract – term captures essential features of minor’s unassisted
contract. It limps, has one strong leg and one weak leg.
• The strong leg represents the fact that the other party to the contract is indeed
bound by the contract and has full contractual obligations to perform as agreed.
• The weak leg represents the minor who has no contractual obligations.
• The minor has a ‘natural obligation under the contract. Obligation is not
enforceable against the minor – minor cant be sued for performance. One reason
for its importance is that the weak leg can be healed and restored to full strength.
Happen if the contract is ratified.
THE MINOR’S REPUDIATION – RESILING WITH IMPUNITY
• A major who contracts with an unassisted minor is in a very weak position: the
major party will have full contractual obligations; the minor has no contractual.
• The minor can ‘resile with impunity’ can withdraw from contract without fearing
consequences.
• The minor can choose to repudiate the contract and major party not be able do
anything about this.
WHAT IF MINOR ALREADY PERFROMED
• In terms of unassisted contract – they can reclaim performance either with
condictio (if performance was in money) or with rei vindicatio (performance was
in the form of property)
• Minors claim might be reduced if they have derived some form of enrichment as
a result of the contract.
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