Minors in Corporate Roles

Abstract

It is universal that juveniles are protected by law due to their immaturity, innocence, and inexperience. However, the extent to the minor’s ineligibility to enter valid transactions in business areas differs from country to country. One of the most complicated contracts is the type of contract relating to the corporation, which is further governed by corporate laws and involves many parties, such as partners as the co-investors, or shareholders as the beneficiaries. Problems are incurred once the minors without legal capacity engage in the corporation to operate the business with other parties. On the one hand, they might not precisely comprehend the contracts they engage in and can be disadvantageous in commerce. On the other hand, business transactions can be undermined and suffer from minors’ fragmented contracts due to the legal effect of voidable acts.

The problem of the study covers the areas of law on capacity, family, and corporation that the application of the laws is still inconsistent and adversely affects all contractual parties. The comparative analysis from the model countries, namely Germany, the UK, Singapore, and France, is the primary contribution to observe the improvement of the Thai laws. Some countries completely preclude minors from the corporation. The others provide the proper conditions, such as minimum age requirements or judicial approval. The proposed solutions will eliminate legal uncertainties in business while maintaining minor safeguards for performing corporate roles.