In the Roman and German legal traditions, the participation of minors in contractual relations depends heavily on the role of guardians or parents. Without their direct or indirect consent, minors do not incur contractual liability. In Roman law, this requirement developed against the background that only young persons who were sui iuris could participate independently in legal transactions, since children under paternal authority were subject to the comprehensive patria potestas. In the English legal tradition, by contrast, there was and still is no such dependence on an adult person; there, the contractual liability of minors depends instead on the content of the contract or the type of agreement involved.
In all the legal systems examined, the position of minors in contract law has evolved strongly in line with the historical structures of family and social life and continues to be shaped by them today. A systematic understanding of the status of minors in contract law therefore requires not only an analysis of contractual liability, but also an understanding of the origins of age limits for legal capacity and of the role played by guardians or parents. What evaluations and functions underlay - and continue to underlie - these factors? For what purposes was the contractual liability of minors restricted or permitted? On the one hand, the issues concern the protection of minors and their (inherited family) assets against diminution or over-indebtedness. On the other hand, varying degrees of emphasis are placed on the interests of contracting parties in legal certainty and the enforceability of obligations undertaken by minor contractual parties. Sarah Popp explores these questions from a historical-comparative perspective through the lens of Roman, German, and English law.