Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) Act 1991
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
a person under the age of 16 years shall, subject to section 2 below, have no legal capacity to enter into any transaction;a person of or over the age of 16 years shall have legal capacity to enter into any transaction.(2) Subject to section 8 below, any reference in any enactment to a pupil (other than in the context of education or training) or to a person under legal disability or incapacity by reason of nonage shall, insofar as it relates to any time after the commencement of this Act, be construed as a reference to a person under the age of 16 years.apply to any transaction entered into before the commencement of this Act;confer any legal capacity on any person who is under legal disability or incapacity other than by reason of nonage;affect the delictual or criminal responsibility of any person;affect any enactment which lays down an age limit expressed in years for any particular purpose;prevent any person under the age of 16 years from receiving or holding any right, title or interest;any civil proceedings may be brought or defended, or any step in civil proceedings may be taken, in the name of a person under the age of 16 years F1in relation to whom there is no person entitled to act as his legal representative (within the meaning of Part I of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995) , or where there is such a person is unable (whether by reason of conflict of interest or otherwise) or refuses to bring or defend such proceedings or take such step;the court may, in any civil proceedings, appoint a curator ad litem to a person under the age of 16 years;the court may, in relation to the approval of an arrangement under section 1 of the the court may appoint a curator bonis to any person;prevent any person under the age of 16 years from F2exercising parental responsibilities and parental rights (within the meaning of sections 1(3) and 2(4) respectively of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995) in relation to any child of his.(4) Any existing rule of law relating to the legal capacity of minors and pupils which is inconsistent with the provisions of this Act shall cease to have effect.(5) Any existing rule of law relating to reduction of a transaction on the ground of minority and lesion shall cease to have effect.of a kind commonly entered into by persons of his age and circumstances, andon terms which are not unreasonable.(2) A person of or over the age of 12 years shall have testamentary capacity, including legal capacity to exercise by testamentary writing any power of appointment.(3) A person of or over the age of 12 years shall have legal capacity to consent to the making of an adoption order in relation to him(4) A person under the age of 16 years shall have legal capacity to consent on his own behalf to any surgical, medical or dental procedure or treatment where, in the opinion of a qualified medical practitioner attending him, he is capable of understanding the nature and possible consequences of the procedure or treatment.(4ZA) For the purposes of subsection (4) , the storage of gametes in accordance with the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 is to be treated as a medical procedure.(4ZB) ((4B) A person who by virtue of subsection (4A) above has legal capacity to instruct a solicitor shall also have legal capacity to sue, or to defend, in any civil proceedings.(4C) Subsections (4A) and (4B) above are without prejudice to any question of legal capacity arising in connection with any criminal matter.which a person under the age of 16 years purports to enter into after the commencement of this Act, andin relation to which that person does not have legal capacity by virtue of this section,(1) A person under the age of 21 years (“the applicant”) may make application to the court to set aside a transaction which he entered into while he was of or over the age of 16 years but under the age of 18 years and which is a
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