| Popis: |
This article deals with a basic question: How to set the age limits for the realization of the rights and freedoms, which are guaranteed by constitutions? Usually, the rights of minors are generally regulated in the civil codes. Besides, as usual, the limited position of a minor ends, when the age of 18 years is reached. However, this rule cannot be applied directly in the sphere of constitutional rights and freedoms; otherwise, the bizarre outcome would be, that many basic rights such as life, freedom and social support would be denied to minors. As usual, constitutions do not contain general age limits; they only contain age limits for several positions in the governments or Constitutional courts and for the right to vote. Age limits must be developed exclusively on the basis of constitutional law; the legislation cannot determine these age limits in the sphere of constitutional law, as the lawmaker has to follow the constitution and not in reverse order. In this article, the German and Ukrainian constitutional doctrine concerning the age limits of minors in constitutional law is presented. The comparative analyze shows, that in both constitutional doctrines these limitations are flexible in context with the special constitutional rights or freedoms. This flexible approach is thoroughly developed in the jurisdiction of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany: the rights and freedoms can be divided in two groups, general rights and freedoms and economic ones. The right of a minor, to realize the general ones depends on the state of the minor’s ability to understand, to have the relevant intellectual capacity; basic rights as the right to live have minors from the birth, even as fetus. Economic rights and freedoms can usually be realized from the age of 18; that means, the constitutional doctrine applies the age limits of civil law. However, also in this sphere the realization of rights and freedoms requires some exceptions according to the requirements of rights and freedoms. The Ukrainian doctrine, as newer publications and decisions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine show, has a similar approach. The difference lies in the level of the clearness of the doctrine and how the relation of a person towards constitutional rights and freedoms are designed in both doctrines. |
