Juvenile law pertains to those who are deemed to be below the age of majority, which varies by country and culture. Usually, minors are treated differently under the law. However, even minors may be prosecuted as adults. Juvenile law by country In both France and the United States, some actions are prohibited to minors, such as the underage consumption of alcohol or tobacco, truancy, running away from home, and ungovernability. A minor can thus become a status offender. United States In the United States, the juvenile varies in definition from state to state. The system applies to anyone between the ages of 6 to 10, depending on the state, and 18; except for 11 states (including Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, South Carolina, and Texas), where a juvenile is a person under 17 and New York and North Carolina, where it is under 15. Thus, criminal majority begins at 16, 17, or 18. The federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Act of 1974 set up four key requirements for US minors: Firstly, the deinstitutionalization of status offenders, moving them from juvenile hall to community-based or family-based environments. Secondly, segregation (sight and sound separation) between juvenile and adult offenders Thirdly, strong limitation for the juvenile justice system to put juveniles in adult jails. Fourthly, the protection of minority groups from being overrepresented in high-security . All states participate except South Dakota and Wyoming. France France has three stages of minors: The infant, still without a perception of acts yet, commits no offence and so cannot be convicted. A minor between 7/8 and 13 has his own discernment. No criminal punishment but only educative measures can be pronounced against him, according to a 2002 law. A minor between 13 and 18 who commits an offence can have punishment that is educational or, in special cases, criminal. The criminal irresponsibility of children under 13 is defined by the Article 122-8 of the Criminal Code. Those between 13 and 18 are assumed to be irresponsible, but they can be involved in a criminal sentence if the circumstances and the juvenile's delinquent personality justify. Operation According to Jean Pierre Rosenczveig, a children's judge in Bobigny, near Paris, the juvenile criminal law in France has six key requirements: The specialization of the magistrate. Indeed, the juvenile criminal system has its own intervener: the children's judge, the court of assizes of minors, the court of appeal chamber