The Constitutional Position of the Newly Adult: The Ultra-Activity of the Juvinile Legal Status Between Protection Needs and the Principle of Self-Responsibility

Abstract

The uniqueness of the legal status of minors lies in their position at the intersection of two seemingly irreconcilable needs: the need of autonomy and the need for protection. The minor continues to be subject to protection needs that gradually diminish as he or she grows up, and then disappear upon reaching adulthood. This is unless circumstances exist that justify extending the guardianship regime granted to the minor. What, then, are the situations deserving of this special regime of protection that Article 31, par. 2, of the Constitution links, among other things, to the conditions of «childhood» and «youth»? Among the issues of legal interest: the extention of parents’ obligation to support their children; the continued applicability of juvinile criminal law; the extention of the protection regime afforded to foreign minors in Italy, and the legal status of persons with disabilities entering adulthood.