MINOR, in Law, denotes a person under age; or who, by the laws of the country, is not yet arrived at the power of administering his own affairs, or the possession of his estate. Among us, a person is a minor till the age of twenty-one, before which time his acts are invalid. See AGE, and INFANT.
It is a maxim in the common law, that in the king there is no minority, and therefore he hath no legal guardian; and his royal grants and assents to acts of parliament are good, though he has not in his natural capacity attained the legal age of twenty-one. It is also provided by the custom and law of parliament, that no one shall sit or vote in either house unless he be twenty-one years of age. This is likewise expressly declared by stat. 7 and 8 Will. III. cap. 25. with regard to the house of commons.