Status Offence

Related terms

Age of Criminal Responsibility

The minimum age below which a person is treated by law as incapable of forming criminal intent, so no act they commit...

Child in Conflict with Law

The current statutory term, used in India's Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, for a person under 18 who...

Curfew Violation

Presence in a public place by a minor after a locally fixed evening hour, enforced through municipal or local ordinances rather than...

Decriminalisation

The formal removal of conduct from the category of offence, here applied to the movement away from treating status conduct as court...

Doli Incapax

Common-law rebuttable presumption that children aged 10-13 are incapable of criminal intent unless the prosecution proves they knew the act was seriously...

Juvenile

A person who has not yet reached the upper age set by a jurisdiction's youth justice law, most commonly 18, and who...

Juvenile Delinquency

Unlawful conduct committed by a person below the age at which the ordinary adult criminal law applies to them; a legal classification...

Runaway

A child who leaves home or a lawful placement without permission; treated in most modern systems as a welfare concern rather than...

Truancy

Habitual unexcused absence from compulsory schooling, historically handled as a court matter and increasingly diverted to school-based or administrative responses.

Vagrancy

Being without a fixed home, visible means of subsistence or, for a child, a responsible adult guardian; in many codes this was...

Explained in these topics

• Juvenile Delinquency and Children in Conflict with Law
• Status Offences: Truancy, Vagrancy and Youth-Specific ProhibitionsConduct that is unlawful only because the person committing it is a minor, such as truancy, running away, curfew violation or underage drinking.