Minimum legal ages in Cordonia
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Cordonia is a country in western Europe. Cordonia has different minimum legal ages for various legal activities codified in national statue, royal decrees and court rulings.
| Law of Cordonia |
|---|
Background
Before the formation of Cordonia there were several former sovereign kingdoms which merged to become the modern day Cordonia. These kingdoms set their own laws; to compromise with each kingdom, it was ratified in 1798 upon Cordonia's formation that each former kingdom, called duchies, would continue to set their own laws but share a common monarch and system of nobility. This has gradually changed to be in align with each other during the constitutional reforms proposed by King Dirk II and ratified by the Parliament of Cordonia. The national minimum age of majority was set at 21 years of age to match neighboring countries in Europe. In 1970 during the international period of enfranchisement of 18-20 year olds, parliament passed the Ages of Capacity Act, lowering the age of majority to 18. The Act only deals with the age of majority (which is defined as when a person ceases to be a child (minor) and becomes an adult), the national age of candidacy and the voting age. It did not regulate other ages, such as the age to ascend the throne (which is regulated under the constitution), the age to inherit royal and noble titles (regulated by the monarch), tobacco and cannabis smoking ages, drinking age, age of candidacy (for duchy-level political offices; federal office is regulated under the Ages of Capacity Act), marriageable age and other age-related topics.
Since 1970, there has been efforts to nationalize all minimum legal ages for uniformity as Cordonia is technically a unitary state as its duchies are do not hold shared sovereignty with its national government (as opposed to a federation or confederation). In 2007, the Adolescent Tobacco Prevention Act of 2007 was passed to require duchies to set a minimum smoking age to 18. In 2011, the Marriageable Age Act of 2011 was passed to require duchies to set their general age of marriage to at least 18 and their minimum marriageable age with parental consent to 16.
In 2022, parliament passed the Uniform Age Act of 2022 which uniformed all minimum ages throughout Cordonia and give the power to regulate it to parliament. It received royal assent on 28 August 2022 and went into on 1 January 2023.
List
| Duchy | Age of Majority | Age of Candidacy | Age of Consent | Drinking Age | Smoking Age | Age of Criminal Responsibility | Marriageable Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Government | 20 (for monarch)[note 3] |
20 (>10% ABV) [note 5] |
|||||
| Castelsarreillan | |||||||
| Cordonian C. D. | |||||||
| Domvallier | |||||||
| Krona | |||||||
| Lythikos | |||||||
| Portavira | |||||||
| Ramsford | |||||||
| Valtoria | |||||||
| Vescovi |
Other minimum ages
- Tattoos and piercings: In Cordonia, minors (persons under 18) cannot receive any type of tattoo with no exceptions. Minors 14 and older may receive piercings with parental consent or wait until the age of majority without parental consent. Minors under 14 cannot receive any piercings with no exceptions.
- Film, television, music and video games: The Cordonia Ministry of Youth has the authority to regulate age restrictions for film, television, music and video games. For more information, see Cordonia content rating systems.
- Medical decisions: Minors (persons under 18) cannot make medical decisions until they become an adult with the exception of treatment and prevention of STDs (must be a minor 14 or older), out patient mental health treatment (e.g. therapy or psychiatric services; must be a minor 16 or older) and abortion (must be 14 or older but some duchies require parental notification or consent, see Legality of abortion in Cordonia). Blood donors must be 18 or older with no exceptions. Cosmetic surgery (e.g. mammoplasty, buttock augmentation, liposuction, abdominoplasty, etc.) requires a patient to be 20 or older with no exceptions. Euthanasia and physician assisted suicide requires a patient to be 20 or older with no exceptions, see Legality of euthanasia in Cordonia.
- Caffeine: Grocery stores, coffeeshops or other establishments may not serve coffee or other caffeinated beverages (e.g. soda, tea, etc.) to persons believed to be under 14 without a parent, guardian or in locos parentis present. This does not apply to private settings. Checking ID is not required for caffeine sales and is up to the discretion of the seller.
- Sex: A person must be 20 or older to perform sex work or work in a sex-oriented establishment, see Legality of prostitution in Cordonia. A person must be of the age of majority to purchase or watch pornography. Cordonian law mandates website operators verify the identity of users with a copy of a driver's license, Cordonian national ID card, or passport.
- School leaving age: a minor 5–17 must be attending a public or private school full-time until they reach the age of majority. The only exception is for medical reasons determined on a case-by-case basis.
- Firearms: A person must be 20 or older to purchase and possess any firearms. Possession of firearms by persons under 20 with supervision by a parent, guardian or in loco parentis is regulated by each duchy.
- Driving: Persons under 17 are prohibited from driving motor vehicles. The minimum age for a learner's permit is 17 and drivers license is 18. See Driving licence in Cordonia for more information.
- Working age: The legal age to work 16. Minors cannot work more than 20 hours a week during the school year. Adults 18 or older can work unlimited number of hours. Persons under 20 cannot work dangerous jobs as defined by the Cordonia Ministry of Youth, which includes being a bartender or working in a bar, working in a hookah lounge, sex work, transporting dangerous materials, etc.
- Spray paint, permanent markers, gas duster, dextromethorphan (DXM) and pseudoephedrine: must be 18 or older to purchase.
- Cordonia Children and Adolescents Online Privacy Act of 2012: To consent to the collection of personal information by website operators, an internet user must be 14 or older. In addition, operators must remove information of users under 18 at the request of a parent, guardian or person acting in locos parentis. This includes the use of social media and email providers which must verify the user is 14 or older by either scanning ID (by law must be deleted from operator servers after age verification) or verifying a credit card (by law must be deleted from operator servers after age verification). Users under 14 may use internet sites with the consent of a parent, guardian or in locos parentis 18 or older and they must verify their age. Website operators may collect personal information of users under 14 with parental consent. The act prohibits website operators from targeting children and adolescents (jugendlichers) under 16 with advertisements. Online advertisements are allowed to target 16–17 but not based on personal interests or information and cannot be ads such as body modification, alcohol, body image related, dating, prescription or OTC drugs, cannabis, financial or insurance products, political, gambling, etc. Online advertising to persons 18–19 is mostly unrestricted with the exception of alcohol and cannabis which is banned to advertise to anyone under 20.
Notes
- ↑ The age of majority is the age at which a person ceases to be a child (minor) and becomes an adult under the law. They cease to be a ward of their parent(s) or guardian(s) and are full citizens. The voting age, the age to sign contracts, the age to establish residence, and the age to enlist in the armed forces are regulated under the age of majority in Cordonia. The age of majority was unified under the Uniform Laws Act of 1961. Before 1961, the age of majority in all duchies were 21 with the exception of Lythikos (16), Vescovi (18) and Valtoria (19). The national age of majority was 21 from 1961 until 1970, in which it was lowered to 18.
- ↑ Before passage of the Uniform Age Act of 2022, the age of candidacy was as following: 25 for premier in Castelsarreillan and Ramsford; 21 for premier in Portavira; 21 for all government positions in Domvallier, Ramsford and Vescovi; 20 for all government positions in Castelsarreillan, Krona and Valtoria; 18 for all government positions in Lythikos and Cordonian C. D..
- ↑ The age at which an heir apparent or presumptive may ascend the throne is regulated by the Constitution of Cordonia.
- ↑ The age of consent in Cordonia is 16. Before the passage of the Uniform Age Act of 2022, the age of consent on the national level was 16 (e.g., if a 19-year-old crossed a duchy boundary to have sex with a 17-year-old, it was not a crime under national law) but each duchy had the power to set a higher age of consent. It is illegal in Cordonia to transmit any sexual material over the internet to and from persons under 18, even though the age of consent is 16. It is illegal for persons under 20 to participate in sex work including prostitution, stripping, adult films or to work in a sexually-oriented business in Cordonia. Prior to 2022, the age of consents in Cordonia were as following: 18 in Castelsarreillan, Cordonian C. D., Krona, Portavira (except for when in a position of trust in which it raised to 20) and Ramsford; 16 in Domvallier, Lythikos, Valtoria (except for when in a position of trust in which it raised to 18) and Vescovi.
- ↑ Before the passage of the Uniform Age Act of 2022, the drinking age was as following: 18 (for beer and wine) and 20 (for liquor) in Castelsarreillan; 18 in Cordonian C. D.; 20 in Domvallier; 18 in Krona; 14 (1.2%–5% ABV), 16 (1.2%–15% ABV) and 18 (>15% ABV) in Lythikos; 16 (for beer and wine) and 18 (for liquor) in Portavira; 21 in Ramsford; 18 (for beer and wine) and 20 (for liquor) in Valtoria; 14 (<10% ABV if accompanied), 16 (<10% ABV) and 18 (>10% ABV) in Vescovi. The current drinking age specifically applies to the purchase age and public consumption age both on- and off-premises. The Uniform Age Act of 2022 specifically allows parents, guardians and in loco parentis to serve alcoholic beverages in moderation on private property to those 14 or older but under 18/20.
- ↑ Duchies could not set their tobacco smoking age below 18 under the Adolescent Tobacco Prevention Act of 2007 before 2022. Under the Uniform Age Act of 2022, all duchies have a smoking age of 18. The cannabis smoking age is 20 nationwide; see Legality of cannabis in Cordonia. Before 2022, the smoking age was 18 in all duchies except Cordonian C. D. (banned), Krona (20), Portavira (20) and Ramsford (21).
- ↑ The national government and duchies cannot hold any person under 18 fully responsible for crimes under the Royal High Court of Cordonia ruling Schmidt v. the King. Parliament raised the age of criminal responsibility to 20 with the passing of the Uniform Age Act of 2022. Before 2022, each duchy had their own age of criminal responsibility for when someone was able to be criminally charged: Castelsarreillan (20), Cordonian C. D. (18), Domvallier (21), Krona (20), Lythikos (18), Portavira (20), Ramsford (18), Valtoria (20) and Vescovi (21).
- ↑ Before the Uniform Age Act of 2022, there was no national marriage age; parliament only prevented duchies from setting their minimum marriage age below 16. It is now 18 across Cordonia. Before 2022, the marriageable age was as following: Castelsarreillan (20 generally, 18 with partner 18-19 and parental consent); Cordonian C. D. (18); Domvallier (18); Krona (20); Lythikos (18 generally, 16 with partner under 20 and parental consent); Portavira (20); Ramsford (21 generally, with partner under 21 and parental consent); Valtoria (18) and Vescovi (18 generally, 16 with partner under 21 and with parental consent).