An objective criterion of the active capacity of citizens in Russian pre-revolutional law

In this article the author considers the criterion of age as an objective index of the active capacity of citizens from the very ancient times till year 1785 and analyses a list of civil and trade deals, that two groups of people - young minors (aged under 17) and minors (aged between 17 and 21) - could make by themselves or with the aid of trustee. At the age of 21, all persons ipso facto got full active capacity, except for those who had mental derangement or other disorders (such as deaf and dumb people). The latter remained in the legal status of the young minors until a special decision of the medical council.